A sword attacker has been found guilty of virtually decapitating a schoolboy and injuring five more people during a rampage he compared to The Hunger Games. Marcus Arduini Monzo , 37, had gone into a cannabis-induced psychosis when he killed 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin with a samurai sword, the Old Bailey heard.
Witnesses described the former Amazon delivery driver screaming “in delight” and smiling after mortally wounding Daniel, who had been walking to school in his PE kit. Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors it was “miraculous” that more people weren’t killed as Monzo slashed and chopped at whoever he came across over 20 minutes.
Monzo had killed and skinned his pet cat Wizard before he ran amok in Hainault, north-east London, on April 30 last year. As well as killing Daniel, Monzo , who had a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, also attacked a pedestrian, two police officers and a couple in their own home before he was arrested by police.
Afterwards, Monzo likened events to the Hollywood film The Hunger Games and claimed to have an alternative persona of a “professional assassin”. Giving evidence at his trial, he said he had no memory of what happened and claimed his mental state had diminished his responsibility for the crimes.
However, the prosecution argued that psychosis brought on by self-induced intoxication was no defence for murder. Even though Monzo admitted he had drunk a hallucinogenic tea called ayahuasca, no trace of DMT – the class A drug in the brew – was detected in his system.
The court also heard how Monzo had made “stabbing motions” re-enacting the violence when he chatted about “killing films” with a member of staff at Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital.
An Old Bailey jury found Monzo guilty of Daniel’s murder, three charges of attempted murder, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife. He was cleared of one count of attempted murder but found guilty of the lesser offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Monzo , who showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out, previously admitted having the samurai sword used to kill Daniel and a katana sword found in his van. Daniel’s parents had sat in court throughout the trial when harrowing CCTV and police body worn video had been played.
‘Extreme force’
The court had heard how Monzo launched the series of attacks by driving his grey Ford Transit van into Donato Iwule, who was “catapulted” into a nearby garden before the vehicle smashed into a concrete pillar and fence. He went on to hit Mr Iwule in the neck with his sword before running away, the court was told. He then virtually decapitated Daniel, who was wearing headphones on his way to school, jurors heard.
Witness Maria Olmos said Monzo dropped to his knees and held his hands up after mortally wounding the schoolboy. She said: “At the time of doing so he let out an extremely loud scream. It wasn’t a scream of pain, it was a scream of delight – my interpretation was he was celebrating.”
Pc Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield was hit three times with the 60cm long blade with “extreme force” as she chased Monzo through alleyways and residential properties.
Next he entered a property and attacked a couple who were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with their young daughter nearby. Monzo demanded to know if they “believe in God” before he left the property. Inspector Molloy Campbell tried to detain Monzo in a car park and received a slash wound to his hand.
The defendant then climbed on to the roof of a garage before he was finally apprehended.
Following his arrest, Monzo claimed his personality had switched and that “something happened, like a game happening”. In his evidence, Monzo described being bullied growing up in Brazil before his family moved to Britain in 2013.
He practised mixed martial arts (MMA) until an injury in 2016 led him to explore yoga and the “magical, miraculous and supernatural” aspects of spirituality, he said. He began to follow a guru on YouTube, spent a year at a retreat in India and took ayahuasca – a hallucinogenic brew traditionally used in South America.
Monzo will be sentenced on Friday at the Old Bailey.
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