The father of a 14-year-old schoolboy murdered in a samurai sword rampage has described the “worst nightmare” moment he held his dying son, as the “wicked” killer faces life in prison.
Daniel Anjorin was walking to school with his headphones in when he was attacked from behind by 37-year-old martial arts enthusiast Marcus Monzo.
The schoolboy was almost decapitated in the savage attack in Hainault, on April 30 last year, as Monzo went on to seek more victims.
Monzo launched the rampage after his mind was warped by a £100-a-day cannabis habit, as well as his use of hallucinogenic drugs including LSD and magic mushrooms.
Before murdering Daniel, he had rammed into a Co-Op security guard with his van and then stabbed him, and he went on to also stab two police officers and attack a couple after invading their home.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, Ebenezer Anjorin, Daniel’s father, said he was alerted to the attack on his son shortly after he had left home to walk to school.
“I was informed by my eldest son that Daniel had been stabbed in the road near our house”, he said.
Mr Anjorin said he ran outside and saw a “hunched-up” body lying on the ground.
“I didn’t realise it was Daniel at first, but as I got closer I recognised his school sports clothes.”
He said he saw his son “lying in a pool of blood” and motionless.
“I knew at once he was dead”, Mr Anjorin said. “I reached down, called his name, and held his head.”
Mr Anjorin said his son had a bright future ahead of him, he had recently been picked for a visit to Cambridge University to learn about the application process, and he was talented at sports as well as playing the violin and piano.
“All out hopes and aspirations were cruelly snatched away from us by the wicked actions of Marcus Monzo”, he said.
“It is the worst nightmare experience of our lives, to go through the pain of losing a child in such a cruel and savage way.
“No family should have to go through this.”
Mr Anjorin set out the devastation of his family and Daniel’s friends, adding: “As parents, one of the most painful aspects of Daniel’s murder is sometimes seeing the pain of Daniel’s loss in our children’s eyes.”
Monzo was found guilty by an Old Bailey jury on Wednesday of Daniel’s murder, as well as three charges of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent, aggravated burglary, and possession of a knife. He had also pleaded guilty to possessing two swords.
Chilling footage from a few weeks before the rampage showed Monzo excitedly unboxing a sword he had bought online, calling the weapon “sexy” and promising to do some “ninja stuff”.
Monzo had killed, skinned and deboned his pet cat Wizard before he launched the attacks, and he told the court he had been gripped by the belief that his pet was trying to control him.
Monzo said he tried to abandon the cat at a nearby park, but the animal returned to his home. He had made an aborted attempt to cook and eat Wizard when he set out on April 30 in his van.
First, Monzo rammed his grey Ford Transit van into Donato Iwule and then emerged from the vehicle while armed with a sword.
Mr Iwule told the court he “thought I was dying” after being struck by the van, and then saw a “smiling” Monzo come at him with the weapon.
He pleaded with the attacker, saying “I don’t know you”, but heard Monzo “I don’t care – I’m going to kill you” before slashing at his neck.
An eyewitness to the first attack saw Monzo on the rampage and tried to warn others nearby of the danger, including Daniel.
But the court heard the 14-year-old had headphones in, and likely knew nothing about Monzo approaching before he was brutally stabbed.
Maria Olmos told the trial she saw Daniel fall to his knees, as Monzo “raised both his arms to the sky”. “At the time of doing so he let out an extremely loud scream”, she said.
“It wasn’t a scream of pain, it was a scream of delight – my interpretation was he was celebrating.”
CCTV and police bodyworn footage captured Monzo’s subsequent movements, as he ran through the residential streets while armed with a Samurai sword.
PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield pursued him through a series of alleyways, but was then struck three times with “extreme force”.
Monzo then entered a family home and attacked a couple, who were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with their young daughter nearby.
Inspector Moloy Campbell told the court he was attacked after hearing over the radio about the attack on MC Mechem-Whitfield.
He was slashed on the hand while trying to subdue Monzo with PAVA spray and the use of a baton.
Inspector Campbell told the Old Bailey that it was his duty as a police officer to try to save his colleague, but he knew when he confronted the sword-wielding killer “it might be the last decision I ever had to make”.
He said he pictured his wife and child when going face-to-face with Monzo, and told the court: “Confronting him felt like it was either him or me.”
He said after being slashed on the hand he was forced to withdraw due to the bleeding, and told the court: “I felt I had failed.”
Monzo’s trial heard how he grew up in Brazil, and moved to the UK in 2013, getting a job in a pub before becoming a so-called ‘man with a van’.
One witness, who hired Monzo’s services, said she was alarmed when he started spouting conspiracy theories about Covid, the earth being flat, 9/11, and the sinking of the Titanic.
She said Monzo suggested the world is controlled by “evil lizards” led by the Pope.
Monzo was in a psychotic state when he launched the sword rampage, having spent years smoking cannabis and indulging in hallucinogenic drugs.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court that Monzo himself admits stopping taking cannabis in the past when he was concerned about the effect on him”.
“Following the crimes, he indicated he had been increasing his use of cannabis while aware of the impact on his mental health.”
After arrest, Monzo claimed to have an alternative personality of a “professional assassin” and likened the stabbing spree to Hollywood film The Hunger Games.
He faces a life term in jail when sentenced later on Friday by Mr Justice Bennathan.