Featured Image Credit: Albert Alfonso
Topics: Crime, UK News, Technology
Olivia Burke
Warning: This article contains discussions of graphic violence which some readers may find distressing
A man accused of 'decapitating and dismembering' a couple before dumping their remains on a UK bridge allegedly made a host of chilling internet searches.
It is claimed that ahead of the gruesome murders on 8 July, 2024, Yostin Andres Mosquera researched 'serial killers' and looked up a Jack the Ripper film.
The 35-year-old is currently on trial for the murders of couple Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, after the pair were brutally slain in their west London home.
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Alfonso was stabbed to death while being filmed, with footage recording Mosquera singing and dancing in the aftermath of the attack, the Old Bailey has heard.
The Colombian national admitted to the 62-year-old's manslaughter by way of loss of self-control on Tuesday (30 April), but denies the murder charges against him. But prosecutors have argued that Mosquera was actually 'in complete control' at the time of the killings, alleging that his actions were 'strategic and premeditated'.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told jurors yesterday that Mosquera 'could hardly deny' killing Alfonso, alleging the attack took place while they were both having sex - which was being filmed.
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Both of these acts were recorded on camera, the court heard. However, the defendant blames Alfonso for the death of Longsworth.
Heer described the footage which was shown to the jury as a 'violent assault', while suggesting Mosquera remained 'calm' and 'in control' throughout.
"Indeed, so unconcerned does he appear by what he has just done that, as Mr Alfonso lies on the floor dying, the defendant starts singing and breaks into a dance and then makes his way directly to the desktop computer in Mr Alfonso’s room and starts using it... to look at information about Mr Alfonso’s finances," she told the court earlier this week.
As well as allegedly tampering with his victim's devices, it is claimed that analysis of Mosquera’s own computer also unearthed some chilling discoveries.
Between June and 8 July last year, the defendant is alleged to have searched for the value of Alfonso and Longworth's home, as well as browsing Facebook marketplace for a chest freezer.
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Police later found the decapitated heads of the pair inside a chest freezer at their flat, while the rest of their remains were found in suitcases on Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Jurors have heard how Mosquera took the luggage to the landmark before being spotted by a concerned cyclist who was passing by, who reported the suspicious activity to police after he 'noticed that something was leaking from the (red) suitcase', before the alleged murderer abandoned both items and ran away.
A forensic scientist concluded the couple had been dismembered with the same style of saw or power saw.
As well as this, Mosquera has been accused of making duplicates of spreadsheets which listed Alfonso's login details for his online bank accounts and transferring them to his own computer.
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The court heard he also attempted to access Alfonso’s different accounts to transfer money - including trying to send £4,000 to his own account in Colombia.
After the murders, the court was told that he made several cash withdrawals from Alfonso’s different bank accounts, obtaining at least £900 before the transactions started getting declined.
And perhaps most disturbingly, it is claimed that the alleged killer made internet searches for the terms 'serial killers of London' and 'Jack the Ripper film' before the couple were killed.
Mosquera is also said to have messaged Alfonso’s manager the morning after the killing from the victim’s phone, claiming he was flying to Costa Rica for a family emergency and planned to stay for around eight weeks.
The trial continues.