A man in a cannabis-induced psychotic episode murdered a schoolboy with a samurai sword and tried to kill four others during a string of attacks in east London, a court was told.
Marcus Monzo, 37, “killed and skinned his cat” before he allegedly started the 20-minute rampage shortly before 7am on April 30 last year.
It began when he “deliberately drove” his grey Ford Transit van at speed into Donato Iwule as he walked to work at a local Co-op. The victim was “catapulted into a garden’; video doorbell footage recorded him screaming in agony.
When Iwule shouted “I don’t know you!”, Monzo replied “I don’t care, I will kill you”, and swung the 60cm weapon towards his neck, the Old Bailey in London was told.
The Spanish-Brazilian national, who was wearing a yellow Quiksilver hoodie, “moved quickly like a predator” and allegedly went on to slash Daniel Anjorin, 14, as he walked to school, killing him.
Daniel Anjorin
METROPOLITAN POLICE/PA
Opening the prosecution’s case on Wednesday, Tom Little KC, told the court: “His life was snuffed out in an instant. Most accurately he was slain by the defendant … It involved a devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left side of Daniel’s face and neck.”
Monzo is then said to have broken into a property, burst into a couple’s bedroom and shouted: “Do you believe in God?”
The man was injured by the sword, the jury was told, while the woman “pleaded with the attacker to stop his murderous attack” when her four-year-old child began crying.
Two police officers also suffered serious injuries. Monzo said “Allah, Allah will unite us all. God, God will reunite us all” when arrested, the court was told.
Monzo, of West Beckton in east London, denies murder, four counts of attempted murder and single charges of wounding with intent, aggravated burglary and having an article with a blade or point, namely a kitchen knife. He has admitted two counts of having an offensive weapon: a katana and a tanto, both types of Japanese sword.
Little added: “The prosecution say there was a clear intention to kill a number of people that morning on the defendant’s part. It did not matter who they were, or indeed how old they were. We say that the defendant’s conduct was brought about by self-induced intoxication in the form of drugs.”
He said this led to a psychotic disorder but fell short of the threshold for a partial defence to murder by reason of diminished responsibility.
The defence’s case is that Monzo was “most likely suffering from a pre-existing condition — schizotypal disorder” that was exacerbated by his cannabis use, the court was told.
A bearded Monzo, who was dressed in bright green jumper and cream tracksuit bottoms, was present in the dock for the first day of his trial.
After Monzo allegedly knocked down the retail worker in his van, witnesses said he appeared “agitated and frustrated”. He approached a witness and asked: “Where are we? What’s the address?” When she took out her phone to call 999, Monzo “took out the sword again [and] stood on her foot in an attempt to trap her”. The woman escaped and called the police.
Monzo then spotted Daniel, who was wearing headphones and his sports kit, as he set off from home, and allegedly delivered the fatal strike from behind. Little said: “He lifted the sword above his head and then swung it downwards towards Daniel’s head and neck area. Daniel instantly fell to the ground.”
Monzo is said to have “leant over and used the sword again” to hit the schoolboy. He then dragged Daniel’s body along the road as he removed his rucksack before walking away. A horrified witness shouted: “He just killed that boy!”
Paramedics tried to save Daniel’s life but he was pronounced dead in hospital at 8.48am.
Dr Ebenezer Anjorin, Daniel’s father, wept as the jury heard details of his son’s final moments.
Police officers tried to corner Monzo when he emerged from bushes brandishing a sword. He ignored repeated calls to drop the weapon despite being pepper-sprayed three times. PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield “sustained very significant injuries to her head, arms and hand in the line of duty”, the court was told.
Moments later, Monzo allegedly broke into the home of Henry De Los Rios Polania and his partner Sindy Arias while they were asleep with their young child.
Little said: “What happened must have been truly horrifying and confusing. Their bedroom is small and they had nothing to protect themselves. They both responded to the question from the defendant.
“The defendant then began to attack De Los Rios Polania with the sword and importantly he then tried to attack her as well. De Los Rios Polania put his arm up to block [Monzo] and was injured.” The father suffered a slash wound to his right arm that required surgery.
Monzo was eventually cornered by officers within a set of enclosed garages. When Inspector Moloy Campbell extended his baton Monzo allegedly swung the sword, which made contact with the officer’s right hand and caused an arterial bleed.
Monzo was electro-shocked and arrested and the sword was recovered. A bloodied, brown-handed knife was found in his van and was stained with his cat’s DNA, the court was told. Police also found a katana sword under the front passenger seat.
The defendant initially replied “no comment” during his first police interview but later “accepted remembering he had a large sword” and believed “something happened, like a game. It was like a movie ‘hunger games’”.
Monzo told the police: “Part of my lifestyle is to heal. Been through traumatic events in childhood. Many personalities spread out.” He said one of his personalities was a “professional assassin”.
Officers found a skinned cat and cannabis when they searched Monzo’s property.
Little told the jury: “The finding of cannabis is important in the context of the cause of the events on that morning and your consideration of the psychiatric evidence.
Monzo’s mental health treatment was “complicated” when synthetic cannabinoids were recorded in a drug test when he was admitted to Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire.
The trial before Mr Justice Bennathan will resume on Monday.
