Latest news with #ElizabethCook
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Man, 92, convicted of murder in the UK's longest-running cold case
Published Jun 30, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - This court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook shows 92-year-old Ryland Headley appearing via video link at Bristol Magistrates' Court, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Elizabeth Cook / AP LONDON (AP) — A 92-year-old man on Monday was convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in southwestern England in what is thought to be the UK's longest-running cold case ever to be solved. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account A jury at Bristol crown court found Ryland Headley, then aged 34, guilty of attacking 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in June 1967. 'Louisa Dunne died in a horrifying attack carried out in the place where she should have felt safest — her own home,' prosecutor Charlotte Ream said. 'For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice.' Dunne was found dead in her home by a neighbour on June 28, 1967. The cause of her death was found to be strangulation and asphyxiation. She had also been raped. Investigators retained Dunne's clothing, including a blue skirt, and other samples from her body for further examination. They also recovered a palm print from a window which Headley is believed to have used to gain entry to her home. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In 2023, the case was reexamined and the skirt was sent away for forensic testing in May last year. DNA recovered from the item of clothing linked Headley to the murder scene after his DNA was added to the national database in 2012 for an unrelated incident. Forensic scientists concluded that DNA from the skirt matched Headley's and the palm print was also his. Headley was arrested at his home in Suffolk in November. Headley was convicted of two counts of rape in the late 1970s, after he attacked women, aged 79 and 84, in Ipswich. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 1978 and was jailed for seven years. Testimonies of the two women were read during Headley's 2025 trial. 'Hearing the voices of the victims of his 1977 offences, is just incredibly powerful and harrowing,' said Detective Inspector Dave Marchant, senior investigating officer for the case. 'I think it gives us an insight into probably what happened within 58 Britannia Road (Dunne's home) to some degree.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Dunne's granddaughter Mary Dainton said she was stunned when she heard that Headley had been arrested. 'I accepted that some murders just never get solved and some people have to live with that emptiness and sadness,' she said. Marchant said he is working with the National Crime Agency to determine whether Headley may be responsible for any other unsolved offences over the years. 'Crimes of this magnitude should never go unpunished and we will remain relentless in ensuring we do everything we can to advance other unsolved murder cases in the Avon and Somerset area,' he said. Headley will be sentenced on Tuesday. World Toronto Maple Leafs Canada Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls
Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Samurai sword murderer gets life in prison for rampage that killed London schoolboy last year
Published Jun 27, 2025 • 3 minute read This court artist sketch shows Marcus Arduini Monzo appearing at the Old Bailey. The man armed with a samurai sword who killed a London teenager on his way to school and injured five other people during what the prosecution said was a psychotic episode triggered by drug use was convicted of murder on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Photo by Elizabeth Cook / PA via AP 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 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. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. '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, who 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Monzo then ambushed Anjorin, who was wearing headphones, and didn't hear a neighbour 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 (60-centimetre) 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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. Toronto Raptors Music Toronto Raptors Sunshine Girls Canada
The Journal
19-06-2025
- The Journal
Former Queen's University Belfast student jailed for life in the UK for raping 10 women
A CHINESE STUDENT who studied at Queen's University Belfast PhD, described as 'one of the most prolific predators' in the UK, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years. PhD student Zhenhao Zou, 28, drugged and raped 10 women in London and China. He kept a trophy box of women's belongings and filmed nine of the rapes on women as they lost consciousness. Three of the 10 victims have been identified, prosecutors say, but Metropolitan Police detectives fear he could have targeted dozens more women. Sentencing Zou at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Rosina Cottage told him he would serve 22 years and 227 days before he was eligible for parole, taking into account time spent on remand. The judge said the defendant is a 'very bright young man' who used a manipulative 'charming mask' to hide that he is a 'sexual predator'. She said that Zou 'planned and executed a campaign of rape', treating the women 'callously' and as 'sex toys' for his own pleasure, which had 'devastating and long-term effects'. The judge told the court that Zou has a 'sexual interest' in 'asserting power and control over women', adding that the victims were 'pieces in an elaborate game' for the defendant, who has 'no understanding of the meaning of consent'. Detective inspector Richard Mackenzie told reporters outside the court: 'The sheer scale of his offending, which spanned two countries, makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen.' Elizabeth Cook / PA Elizabeth Cook / PA / PA After a month-long trial, Zou, who was most recently living in Elephant and Castle, south-east London, was found guilty of raping three women in London and another seven in China between September 2019 and May 2023. He was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim. Zou was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol. Prosecutors said Zou appeared to be 'a smart and charming young man', but was in fact 'a persistent sexual predator, a voyeur and a rapist'. He comes from a wealthy family, affording a Rolex, a wardrobe of designer clothes, cosmetic procedures such as a hair transplant and facial surgery, and thousands in monthly rent while living in London as an international engineering student. Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow Chinese students on WeChat and dating apps before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his flats in London or an unknown location in China. The student first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen's University before heading to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at University College London (UCL). Advertisement His crimes began to be uncovered in November 2023, when a woman went to police to allege she had been attacked by Zou. There was not enough evidence to bring a criminal charge over the claim, but when Zou's phone was seized, officers found disturbing videos of him raping unconscious women, and pipettes and sedating drugs were discovered in his flat. One of the identified women was raped after Zou pushed her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and would not let her leave his flat in Elephant and Castle in May 2023. She said in her victim impact statement: 'I have lost faith in human beings, I have no trust in others. Before this incident, I was not aware that a human could do such evil things. When I meet with strangers, I get flashbacks of what he did.' A second identified woman, who is now living in China, was also raped by Zou in his student flat near Russell Square in October 2021 when she was unconscious, the court heard. She said: 'I know words will never fully convey the depth of this wound. But one thing is certain, what happened that night is etched into my soul forever. 'His face, his expression – they will never leave me. I will never forgive him.' Scotland Yard said 24 women came forward following publicity in the media around Zou's trial to say they think they may have been attacked by him. Prosecutors say among them was a victim in China, known as Female D. In her statement, she wrote of being 'trapped in self-blame', 'gagged by shame' and being 'haunted' by nightmares of what happened. Commander Kevin Southworth, of the Metropolitan Police said: 'I hope the fact Zou can no longer harm others serves as a small amount of comfort to the women who have suffered immeasurably. 'I would also like to take this opportunity to stress that our investigation remains open and we continue to appeal to anyone who may think they have been a victim of Zou. 'Please come forward and speak with our team – we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect.' Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said that Zou is a 'serial rapist and a danger to women'. She added: 'I'd like to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt thanks to the courageous women who came forward to report Zou's horrific crimes. 'They have been incredibly strong and brave – there is no doubt that their evidence helped us to secure his conviction, and the life sentence handed to him today.' Zou's case has chilling parallels with Reynhard Sinaga, 41, who was jailed for life in January 2020 at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of 159 counts of sexual offences against 48 different men. He also befriended his victims and invited them back to his flat, before drugging and sexually assaulting them. There was also the case of serial killer Stephen Port, who received a whole life term after raping and murdering four men with overdoses of the sedative drug GHB, and drugging and sexually assaulting seven others who survived.
Wales Online
30-05-2025
- Wales Online
Liverpool parade crash accused Paul Doyle holds back tears as he appears in court
Liverpool parade crash accused Paul Doyle holds back tears as he appears in court Paul Doyle shook his heard as court was told the 53-year-old drove deliberately into the crowd at Liverpool FC's victory parade Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Paul Doyle, 53, appearing at Liverpool Magistrates' Court (Image: © 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved ) The alleged driver of a car that rammed into people in the crowd during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade appeared tearful as he appeared in court. Paul Doyle, 53, of West Derby, Liverpool, is charged with seven offences relating to the incident Water Street in the city centre on Monday, in which 79 people suffering injuries. He appeared in Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Friday morning Doyle was wearing a black suit, white shirt and grey tie and looked emotional as he was brought in from the cells. He looked around at the dozens of reporters packing the courtroom, his face crumpling slightly as he held back tears. Asked to identify himself by District Judge Paul Healey, Doyle confirmed his name and gave his date of birth and address in Liverpool in a croaky voice,. The father of three was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday afternoon. He is accused of two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of dangerous driving. The charges relate to six victims, including two children. Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Paul Doyle, 53, appearing at Liverpool Magistrates' Court (Image: © 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved ) The ages of those injured ranged from nine to 78. District judge Healey said there were real prospects of further charges, adding he was satisfied this was an "exceptional case" that "shocked and outraged" the people of Liverpool and beyond. He granted the prosecution's request for orders protecting the identities of the six complainants. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has previously the charges would be kept "under review as the investigation progresses". Article continues below Chief crown prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, said: "The investigation is at an early stage. Prosecutors and police are continuing to work at pace to review a huge volume of evidence. This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure every victim gets the justice they deserve." On Thursday, police said seven people remain in hospital. Police previously said they believed the car that struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.
