Alleged samurai swordsman cooked his cat before 'killing 14-year-old schoolboy'

Metro

17 hours ago

An alleged swordsman tried to cook and eat his cat before killing a schoolboy during a rampage in London.
Marcus Arduini Monzo is accused of murdering a 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin and mowing down a pedestrian Donato Iwule with a van.
He is further accused of attacking two police officers as well as a couple in their home on April 30 last year, under the influence of cannabis.
Monzo, 37, admitted to skinning and deboning his pet cat Wizard before he allegedly launched a spree of violence in Hainault.
He told jurors at the Old Bailey that in the days before the attacks, he 'received guidance and communication' in his head that the cat 'was being used against me by negative forces' and he took it to a park to get rid of it.
After the cat returned to his Newham flat in the morning, he strangled it despite claiming he did not want to.
He said: 'After I strangled him he [the communication] was telling me that the cat had taken energy from me and to replenish and get the energy back, I had to eat the cat.'
Monzo said he tried to cook it, but became 'panicked and rushed', believing an event 'like an Armageddon' was happening.
The defendant said he didn't have time to eat the animal, so he put it in the back of his Ford Transit and picked up swords, a ball bearing gun and a backpack containing clothes.
He said: 'I had this idea that the world was collapsing… something big was happening, I didn't know exactly what, I had the idea that I wasn't coming back.'
Monzo said he then drove towards his parents' house.
He used his van to knock Mr Iwule into a garden, then slashed him in the neck with a samurai sword before the victim escaped, jurors heard.
Asked why he changed direction, the defendant said: 'That is something I have thought about a lot, every day, why just a block away from my parents' house? A block later, I would have arrived at their house.'
Daniel, who was wearing headphones on his way to school, was virtually decapitated.
PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield chased the defendant through alleyways before he struck her three times with the sword with a 60cm blade, prosecutors said.
Monzo then allegedly entered a property and attacked a couple who were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with their young daughter nearby.
He also struck Inspector Moloy Campbell once with the sword before he was arrested.
However, the defendant said he had no memory of what happened until he was tasered.
He told jurors: 'My memory after I left my home… gradually it becomes very vague and abstract… not very clear.'
Monzo said he was smoking cannabis 'three or four times a week' before the attack, but denied doing so on the day.
Jurors heard that he told an expert that cannabis was a 'major contributor' to the rampage, but he played down its effects on Friday. He told jurors he did not think it 'guided' the killing.
He said the swords were bought for 'display' purposes.
Monzo had earlier spoken of taking psychedelics and drinking his urine years before amid an interest in spirituality.
Around 2017, he began following YouTube spiritual guru Sadhguru, which led to a year-long stay in India, jurors heard.
Monzo said he was taught at a retreat to detach from family and friends.
During a weekend trip, he took ayahuasca — a hallucinogenic brew traditionally used in South America.
He returned to the UK 'looking skinnier' before travelling to a remote part of Brazil to consume more ayahuasca, the court heard.
Monzo also said he took the powerful psychedelic ayahuasca twice in the UK, describing it as having stronger effects during 'ceremonies'.
He later travelled again to Brazil and India, and also attended breatharian festivals in Italy and Denmark, which promote living without food.
On his return to the UK, Monzo said he argued with family members because he was 'not very clean' and began drinking his urine for 'cleaning' purposes.
He added: 'I would use it to shower, on the hair, even using it on the nose.'
After the attack, he likened events to the Hollywood film The Hunger Games and claimed to have an alternative personality of a 'professional assassin'.
Monzo denies Daniel's murder and the attempted murders of Mr Iwule, Sindy Arias, Henry De Los Rios Polania and Ms Mechem-Whitfield, as well as wounding Mr Campbell with intent.
He also denies aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife.
Monzo admits to having two swords.
The trial continues.
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