a day ago
Alleged sword killer ‘tried to eat own cat'
An alleged sword attacker has told a court how he tried to cook and eat his cat before killing a schoolboy.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, skinned and deboned his pet cat Wizard before allegedly launching a 20-minute spree of violence in Hainault, east London, while under the influence of cannabis, prosecutors say.
He is accused of murdering 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, mowing down pedestrian Donato Iwule with a van and attacking two police officers and a couple - Sindy Arias and Henry De Los Rios Polania - in their home on April 30 last year.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Friday, Monzo wept as he said he did not intend to harm anybody when asked about why he bought swords.
He told jurors that in the days before the alleged attacks he 'received guidance and communication' in his head that the cat 'was being used against me by negative forces'.
He said he took the animal to a park to get rid of it, but it had returned to his Newham flat on the morning of the alleged rampage, and that he then strangled it despite not wanting to.
Asked why it was skinned, he told jurors: '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 told jurors: 'I didn't have time to eat the cat.'
He then 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 set off towards his parents' house.
Prosecutors say he allegedly used his van to knock Mr Iwule into a garden, then slashed him in the neck with a samurai sword before his victim managed to escape.
Asked why he changed direction, Monzo 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.'
Prosecutors allege he then virtually decapitated Daniel, who was wearing headphones on his way to school.
Pc Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield allegedly chased the defendant through alleyways before he struck her three times with the sword which had a 60cm blade, prosecutors say.
Monzo then allegedly entered a property and attacked a couple who were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with their young daughter nearby.
It is also claimed he struck Insp Moloy Campbell once with the sword before he was arrested.
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 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 Insp Campbell with intent.
He also denies aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife.
Monzo admits having two swords.
The trial continues.
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