Web searches on fatal blows and freezers made before suitcase murders, jury told

Glasgow Times

6 days ago

Yostin Andres Mosquera, 35, is on trial for the murders of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, on July 8 2024 in the flat the two shared in Scotts Road, Shepherd's Bush, west London.
Mosquera is alleged to have repeatedly stabbed Mr Alfonso, who suffered injuries to his torso, face and neck, while Mr Longworth was attacked with a hammer to the back of his head and his 'skull shattered', prosecutor Deanna Heer KC has previously told jurors at Woolwich Crown Court.
Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso (Metropolitan Police/PA)
On Tuesday, it was suggested that Mosquera, a Colombian national who does not speak English, made repeated computer searches to find a freezer in the build-up to the killings.
Many of the searches were in Spanish, some used Google translate and were also made while Mosquera was the only person in the house, the jury heard.
He asked questions about delivery options and several searches were looking for a deep freezer, a chest freezer, a large indoor and outdoor freezer for sale.
In the days before the killings the phrase 'hammer killer' was tapped into the computer.
Giving evidence through a translator, Mosquera, who blames Mr Alfonso for Mr Longworth's death, said he must have carried out that search.
The prosecution alleges that Mosquera, who took part in filmed sex sessions with Mr Alfonso 'decapitated and dismembered' two men and left their heads in a freezer before travelling to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol with other parts of their bodies.
CCTV images in which Mr Longworth appears in a window show that he was still alive at the time those searches about potentially fatal blows to the head were made on July 8, the jury heard.
Ms Heer asked Mosquera: 'Can you think of any reason why you would look for a search about 'where on the head is a knock fatal?' while Mr Longworth is still alive?'
He replied 'no reason'.
Forensic officers at an address in Shepherd's Bush, west London, after human remains were found in suitcases near the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Ms Heer later said: 'I suggest that you did that in the morning and why you were searching for 'where on the head is a knock fatal?' is because you were planning to kill Mr Longworth.'
Mosquera replied: 'No'.
Ms Heer suggested the killing 'probably' happened around the time the curtains were seen closing at 12.30pm.
She told Mosquera: 'You closed the curtains at 12.30pm and open them at 1pm.
'I suggest that this is the time you took a hammer and hit Paul Longworth.
'You approached him from behind and you hit him on the head with the hammer. You did so repeatedly.'
Mosquera flatly denied the allegation and said: 'No'.
A white plastic bag which had flaky and dried blood in it was found to contain Mr Longworth's DNA.
Ms Heer asked Mosquera: 'Did you put that bag over Mr Longworth's head before you hit him with the hammer?'
Mosquera replied: 'No.'
Mosquera admits killing Mr Alfonso but claims it was manslaughter by reason of loss of control.
He denies murdering either man and insists Mr Alfonso killed Mr Longworth.
A view of Clifton Suspension Bridge (Ben Birchall/PA)
Mosquera had first come to the UK from Colombia in June 2024 on the promise of English lessons and financial support from Mr Alfonso, whom he had met years earlier through webcam sex websites.
Mosquera has previously told the jury he feared for his own life and believed he was about to be killed when he stabbed Mr Alfonso.
Mosquera said he was thinking about what he claims Mr Alfonso had done to Mr Longworth. Mosquera said he was thinking about the threats Mr Alfonso had made to him and how he had been treated.
Referring to his defence statement outlining how he felt at the time of the killing, Ms Heer told Mosquera: 'You thought that your head would blow up like a balloon.
'You could hear the blood pumping in your body and you could hear a constant beep.
'This happened to you a few minutes before you killed Mr Alfonso.'