What happened to Jlloyd Samuel? Ex Aston Villa and Bolton footballer’s death explained, Netflix documentary

Jlloyd Tafari Samuel was a professional footballer. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, but raised in London, he played as a defender and midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa. Samuel made 198 appearances for Villa before moving to Bolton Wanderers in 2007, where he made 71 appearances.

Samuel spent the last four years of his professional career in the Iran Pro League, representing Esteghlal and Paykan. He won a Hazfi Cup and a league title with Esteghlal. From 2011-2014 he played for the Iranian club Esteghlal, and the following year players for Paykan. In 2017 he became a player and manager of the amateur team Egerton, in Cheshire.

Samuel died in a shock accident in 2018 and was survived by his wife Emma Samuel and their three children - however after his death rumours emerged that he had married a second wife in secret.

How did Jlloyd Samuel die?

On 15 May 2018, Samuel was driving home after dropping his children off at school. His Range Rover collided with a van and burst into flames - Samuel died at the scene and the driver of the van suffered serious injuries. An inquest found that Samuel had been twice the drink-driving limit at the time and that his car had strayed onto the wrong side of the road, resulting in a head-on collision.

What happened after Jlloyd Samuel’s death?

Samuel’s wife Emma was understandably shocked by the sudden death of her husband, but was not prepared for the revelations that came out following the event and threats that she faced from Samuel’s family.

Following Samuel’s death, Helia Sahimi, an Iranian fashion designer and singer posted videos of herself and Samuel on her Instagram account, and referred to him as her husband. She claimed that Samuel had married her whilst playing in Iran and that he became a Muslim in order to be with her.

In a post shared to Sahimi’s Instagram on May 17, 2018, she wrote: “Tell me how can I live without you? Thank you to all those who sympathize and those who did not know about my life, please do not add to my sadness if you do not understand it.” In the years since Samuel’s death, Sahimi has continued to post video tributes to the man she calls her husband, including one on December 5, 2021.

Emma also began receiving threats spawned from conspiracy theories about her husband’s death. Samuel’s sister Leslie-Ann claimed that Emma had faked her husband’s death, even though an examination of teeth from the body matched Samuel’s dental records.

Sahimi also shared a video of Leslie-Ann to her Instagram account in June 2018 - in the video she questions the nature of her brother’s death, said that she was conducting her own investigation into the accident, and claimed ‘the truth will come out.’

Emma started an Instagram page, Wag to Widow, where she discusses her experiences in the wake of her husband’s death. In her first post back in 2021 she wrote: “I will speak honestly about the mistress, slander, harassment and threats I had to endure since my loss and how you can keep going through a tragic situation.”

The Footballer, His Wife & the Crash first aired on ITVBe (Freeview channel 28) on November 3, 2022. It has now been put on NEtflix and is available to stream now. The documentary is 90 minutes long.