Man gets life in prison for killing a London schoolboy, injuring five others with a samurai sword

LONDON — A man armed with a samurai sword who murdered a London boy on his way to school during a rampage that seriously injured five other people was sentenced Friday to life in prison.

Marcus Arduini Monzo was condemned as “wicked” by Daniel Anjorin’s father, who described the agony of finding his 14-year-old son crumpled in a pool of blood outside their home shortly after he’d left for school on April 30, 2024.

“It has been the worst nightmare experience of our lives,” Dr. Ebenezer Anjorin said during the sentencing in the Central Criminal Court. “To have to go through the pain of losing a child in such a cruel and savage way. No family should have to go through this.”

Monzo, 37, was convicted Wednesday of Anjorin’s murder, along with three counts of attempted murder and one count each of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possessing a bladed article.

Justice Joel Bennathan set the scene of the crime on the streets of east London, where he said people had just set out for work and children were headed to school, when Monzo plowed his van into a pedestrian and unleashed a 20-minute frenzied attack that came to an end only after police used a stun gun to immobilize him.

“That peaceful, busy scene was devastated as members of the public were attacked, police officers were gravely injured, a couple were terrified in their own home, and a clever, talented, much-loved young boy was killed by a savage blow with a sword,” Bennathan said. “You, Marcos Arduini Monzo, did all of that.”

Prosecutors said that drug use triggered the psychotic episode that turned violent when Monzo killed his cat, Wizard, after voices in his head told him the pet was sapping his energy and he needed to kill and eat it.

Before he could do that, though, he said he was overcome by feeling that Armageddon was imminent and he left his home in his van for his parent’s house. On the way, he rammed his car into security guard Donato Iwule, whom he attacked with the sword and said he was going to kill him. He slashed the man’s neck, but Iwule was able to get away.

Monzo then ambushed Anjorin, who was wearing headphones, and didn’t hear a neighbor warning him of the swordsman.

“We were shouting and waving towards Daniel as he came out,” Aiste Dabasinskaite said after the attack. “It just happened right before our eyes, it was horrible.”

Monzo nearly beheaded the teen with the 2-foot blade and stabbed him as he lay on the ground.

When police officers arrived and tried to help the boy, Monzo sprang from bushes nearby and bolted. Constable Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield gave chase and suffered what police said were “brutal and life-changing” injuries including a fractured skull and severe nerve damage when he lunged at her.

Monzo then broke into a nearby home, where he awoke a couple who had been sleeping with their 4-year-old daughter. He shouted about believing in God and attacked the girl’s father, wounding his neck and arm.

In his final act of violence, he struck police Inspector Moloy Campbell once with the sword before he was subdued with a stun gun and arrested.

Jurors determined Monzo was responsible for his actions after prosecutors argued that the attack was caused by his cannabis use, rather than an underlying mental health condition.

Monzo, who has dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship, said that an injury from mixed martial arts had led him on a spiritual quest and he consumed ayahuasca, a hallucinogen, and frequently smoked marijuana.

Prosecutors said Monzo had an interest in violence, far-right extremism and conspiracy theories. He had shared vaccine misinformation and liked social media posts on X praising Adolf Hitler.

Monzo told jurors he believed that the Earth was flat and that the 9/11 attack was “probably” a conspiracy. He also spoke about his practice of drinking his own urine.

Melley writes for the Associated Press.