An alleged knifeman ‘smiled’ after slashing a pedestrian’s neck during a rampage which left a 14-year-old boy dead, the Old Bailey has heard.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, told a women before the alleged attacks that he was a fan of Elon Musk and believed we all live under a dome controlled by ‘evil lizard aliens’.
He is on trial accused of murdering schoolboy Daniel Anjorin, 14, and attempting to kill four others in a ‘brutal string of attacks’ in Hainault, north-east London on April 30 last year. He denies the charges.
During a trial at the Old Bailey on Monday, the court heard Daniel was on his way to school when he was killed ‘in an instant’.
(Picture: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)
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CCTV footage shown in court capture’s Monzo’s grey Ford Transit mounting the pavement and hitting Co-op security guard Donato Iwule, who was on his way to work.
Monzo is accused of then attacking Donato with a sword.
Giving evidence, Donato said: ‘I thought I was dying.’
He told the court he tried to escape into a nearby garden but was struck on his knee, face and shoulder and knocked to the ground.
He said Monzo got out of the van, pulled a sword from a cover ‘right in front of my face’ and threw the cover aside.
‘I said “I don’t know you”… I said it multiple times,’ Mr Iwule told prosecutor Tom Little KC.
‘He said “I don’t care – I’m going to kill you”.’
Donato said he tried to defend himself and raised his arms but Monzo swung the sword, catching him on the neck.
‘I saw blood coming out of my neck,’ he said. ‘I pressed my thumb to not bleed out… I shouted ‘God is greatest’ in Arabic – because I’m Muslim.
‘When that happened, he was smiling like it was something that he was happy about.’
Donato said while he was trying to flee the scene, he saw Daniel walking down the road and shouted at him to go back inside.
He added later on he saw Daniel on the floor and Monzo attacking the ambulance which was trying to help him.
Jurors also heard how Monzo had ordered a large samurai sword and ‘moaned’ as he played with it in the days leading up to the rampage.
Video footage played to the court showed him unboxing the swords, making moaning noises and referring to his cat as ‘the wizard’ on April 4, three and a half weeks before the attack.
In the video, he’s heard saying: ‘Woo, frigging sexy ah* this is real leather ooo, oh my god.
‘I’m sharing here, sharing my sword. Do you wanna sink your teeth in here?’
Jurors heard Monzo had told customers his hobbies were yoga and martial arts, that he was born in Brazil but went backpacking in India and had a ‘spiritual experience’ which opened his eyes.
He told a woman who had hired his van that he was a fan of Elon Musk because he had allowed the truth to come out.
Monzo also said the earth is flat, that the 9/11 attacks were a conspiracy and that ‘the pope is the most evil person on the planet’.
Monzo, of West Beckton, east London, denies murder, four counts of attempted murder, wounding with intent while trying to resist his lawful apprehension and having an article with a blade or point, namely a kitchen knife.
He also denies aggravated burglary by entering a home with a Katana samurai sword with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to the residents.
The trial continues.
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