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Times
a day ago
- Times
Colombian man who hid body parts in suitcases guilty of murder
A Colombian pornographic actor murdered two men in a 'ruthless' attack and was filmed singing and dancing after he stabbed one of them. Yostin Mosquera, 35, was staying with Albert Alfonso, 62, and his civil partner Paul Longworth, 71, when he plotted to drain their bank accounts and sell their flat in Shepherd's Bush, west London. He was found guilty of murdering both men by a jury at Woolwich crown court on Monday and now faces a life sentence. Mosquera, a Colombian citizen, flew to Britain to participate in sexual acts with Alfonso after the pair met via webcam sex websites in 2012. Mosquera battered Longworth, an Irish retired handyman, with a hammer while Alfonso was at work on July 8 last year and hid his body under a bed, prosecutors said. Later that evening Mosquera murdered Alfonso, a swimming instructor, while they were having sex. Harrowing footage of Mosquera inflicting fatal knife wounds on Alfonso, who clutched his neck as he tried to fight off his attacker, was played to the jury. At one point, Mosquera asked: 'Do you like it?' as the victim fought for his life. As Alfonso lay dying, Mosquera accessed his MoneyGram account and tried to transfer £4,000 to his personal account in Colombia. However the transaction was blocked so he withdrew the money from a cash machine. Deanna Heer KC, for the prosecution, said: 'His actions were planned, they were premeditated, and having killed them, the evidence demonstrates the defendant attempted to steal from them.' Mosquera later dragged two suitcases containing the couple's remains to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol where he planned to dump them. He was later arrested and police found Alfonso and Longworth's decapitated heads in a chest freezer at their 'heavily bloodstained' home. Mosquera told the court that he feared for his life and believed he was about to be killed when he stabbed Alfonso. He admitted Alfonso's manslaughter due to loss of control but denied two counts of murder. He blamed Alfonso for Longworth's death. On Monday, jurors deliberated for five hours and three minutes before returning unanimous guilty verdicts following a retrial. Mr Justice Bennathan, the judge who presided over the trial, ordered a pre-sentence report and said Mosquera will learn his fate on October 24. He thanked the jury and told them: 'We put serious demands on jurors … In this case you have had to look at a very tough video. They were terrible brutal events and to read about it is a dreadful thing but to see it is really shocking. If you do want to seek help then speak to the court staff — above all, thank you.' Detective Chief Inspector Ollie Stride, who led the double murder investigation on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, said it was 'one of the most traumatic, harrowing murder investigations I've dealt with by virtue of that video'. He added: 'Having a video of the murder is, in many ways, an investigator's dream. It was really important for me and the investigation team that we were not complacent. We continued the meticulous investigation through all the evidence that we would have done if we hadn't had that video.' Detectives believe the killings were 'financially motivated' and said Mosquera had shown no remorse for his crimes. Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: 'The extensive evidence, painstakingly analysed by police and our team of homicide prosecutors, made sure that we could prove it was only Yostin Mosquera that was responsible — and further demonstrated that this brutal attack was planned, premeditated and ruthless.' During the trial, the court was told how Alfonso and Longworth had an 'unconventional relationship' but neighbours described them as a friendly couple who 'seemed happy together'. Longworth was dyslexic and 'relied on Alfonso', jurors were told. They entered a civil partnership 17 months before their deaths. Heer said that Alfonso engaged in 'extreme sex' with other men. Longworth was aware but had nothing to do with this part of his life. Mosquera made several trips to the UK and engaged in sexual acts with Alfonso 'in exchange for payment', the court heard. Alfonso and Longworth also visited Mosquera in his country. Heer said that Mosquera 'had other matters on his mind' when he stayed with the couple in June last year. He looked up the value of their home, browsed Facebook marketplace for a chest freezer, copied spreadsheets containing Alfonso's online banking passwords and searched for 'serial killers of London' and 'Jack the Ripper film'. Two days after the killings, on July 10, Mosquera was driven to Bristol with a silver trunk and red suitcase. At 10.30pm he was dropped off near the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the court was told. Two witnesses asked if he needed help. Mosquera gave his name as 'Juan' and he used Google Translate to say he needed to meet a client at the bridge to deliver 'mechanical parts and oil'. They offered him a lift but found the cases were 'too heavy and too large to fit' in the boot. A taxi was booked and CCTV captured Mosquera pulling the red case along the pavement near the bridge at 11.05pm. He was seen 'looking over the sidewall down to the River Avon Gorge below'. A cyclist spoke to Mosquera in Spanish and bridge staff 'noticed something was leaking from the suitcase'. The cyclist asked to open it but Mosquera refused. The cyclist 'managed to film [Mosquera] on his mobile telephone. Mosquera tried to knock the phone out of his hand before he ran off. He was arrested on July 13 last year and refused to answer questions. Mosquera's first trial at the Old Bailey collapsed in May this year after incorrect evidence relating to the timings of internet searches was put before the jury.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Colombian man guilty of murdering UK couple, left body parts in suitcases
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - A Colombian national was convicted on Monday of murdering two men in London before taking parts of their dismembered bodies in suitcases to Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge. Yostin Andres Mosquera, 35, was visiting 62-year-old Albert Alfonso and 71-year-old Paul Longworth at the London flat they shared in July 2024 when he killed the pair and decapitated them, prosecutors said. Mosquera – who prosecutors said had engaged in extreme sexual acts with Alfonso – then put some of the couple's dismembered bodies in two suitcases and attempted to dispose of the bodies in Bristol, southwest England, before he was caught and charged. Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors at Woolwich Crown Court that Mosquera killed Longworth with a hammer, before stabbing Alfonso to death after the pair had sex – which was recorded in a video played several times to the jury. Mosquera said in his evidence that Alfonso - who he alleged had been abusive to him and had threatened his family - had killed Longworth before Mosquera killed Alfonso. He had pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, but admitted the manslaughter of Alfonso by reason of loss of control. He was convicted by a jury on Monday and will be sentenced on October 24.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Extreme sex and bodies in suitcases - who were the men involved?
The murder of Albert Alfonso and Paul Longworth by Yostin Mosquera revealed a world of extreme sex, dark web videos and adult content creation. But how did the three men know each other - and why did Mosquera murder them? Warning: This article contains details that some may find distressing, including violence and descriptions of a sexual nature. Three men enjoying a speedboat ride at a luxury resort in Colombia - Albert Alfonso's selfie with Yostin Mosquera and Paul Longworth makes them look like the best of friends. But the reality was quite the smiles there were complex relationships based on extreme sex, domination and financial transactions, all existing alongside a loving and caring partnership. Four months after the photo was taken, Mosquera mercilessly killed both men in their London flat on 8 July 2024, before dismembering their bodies, and travelling more than 116 miles (186km) with them in a suitcase. He hired a man with a van to drive him to Bristol, who dropped him off close to the city's suspension bridge, where Mosquera planned to throw them off. Albert, 62, and Paul, 71, had previously been in a civil marriage and while they had split up, they remained close and continued to live described the men as without "huge family, friend circles", instead being "each other's everything, their rocks and their world".Albert was a swimming instructor and was training to be a lifeguard at Mode Club Gym in Acton, west grew up in Bidart, France, and trained at a hotel school in Biarritz before moving to the UK to manage was previously a general manager at 375 Kensington High Street - a luxury residential estate in west London with apartments and statements read to Woolwich Crown Court, former colleagues of Albert described him as "funny, authoritative and motivated". It was at this building that Albert met Paul, a handyman who had recently bonded over the fact they were both fostered and in February 2023 they entered a civil partnership, although Paul's friends told the BBC he "wasn't open about his sexuality" and referred to Albert as his was widely described by friends and neighbours as "extremely kind".Kevin Dore, 74, from Shepherd's Bush, used to drink with Paul and knew him for more than 20 years."He's a nice, warm, generous person," he said."Always polite. Always buy you a drink, sit down and have a chat."George Hutchison, who also used to drink with Paul, said: "He was just one of the boys. He was a very nice man, never did anybody any harm." Although Albert was said to have been private about his personal life, the trial revealed a world of extreme sex which he frequently paid for, participated in and shared videos of was a side of his life that Paul had nothing to do with, although he knew about it and seemed to accept a Colombian national, was also posting scores of videos of himself online performing extreme sex acts under various 35, he lived in Medellin, and had five brothers and one sister, who died a few years ago. He also has two and Mosquera started speaking over Skype from about 2012. By 2017, Albert started paying Mosquera for sexual videos, which reportedly became more extreme over time. They finally met in person in 2023 when Mosquera travelled to England for the first it seems Albert misjudged their sexual relationship. While it seemed Albert was in it for the sex, Mosquera was in it for the money. The court heard Albert had laid his whole life open to a man with whom his relationship was, in reality, transactional. Albert's bank statements show he received more than £17,500 between 2 September 2022 and 12 July 2024 from a company that operates an extreme pornography May 2022 and February 2024, Albert sent Mosquera a total of $7,735 across 72 payments - the equivalent of about £5, between January 2024 and 19 June 2024 Albert transferred £928 via MoneyGram, which provides international money transfer return, Mosquera posted porn across four websites, including more than 100 videos and images, online using had asked for sex shows and between 30 June 2022 and 12 June 2024 he earned $2,682.90. But Mosquera told the court he did not know Albert was sharing videos of him online until a few days before he murdered him - despite agreeing that he signed a consent form in 2023 allowing Albert to upload images of him online and for him to keep financial October 2023, Mosquera travelled to the UK and stayed in Albert's home. He told the court he was raped "every day" by Albert and did not take any enjoyment from the extreme sex acts, which he was paid to October 2023 Albert paid for Mosquera to visit him in the UK, staying at their London his stay, Mosquera visited Madame Tussauds, took a trip on an open top bus and went on a boat trip on the River in March 2024, Albert took Paul to Colombia where they stayed at Cartahenga - and Albert paid for Mosquera to come and meet Dore, one of Paul's drinking friends told the BBC they had warned him about travelling to the country."We said 'that's a dangerous place Paul, don't muck about over there'," Mr Dore said. In May that year Mosquera made another extreme video for Albert and within weeks he was back in the UK, staying with the pair - again at Albert's time Albert arranged a guest membership for Mosquera at his gym, set him up to join his work's five-a-side football team Whatsapp group, and enrolled him on a four-week English language three men also travelled to Brighton for a day trip, visiting the pier and where Mosquera was filmed on a in the days before Mosquera landed at Heathrow Airport and during his stay, he was accessing information about Albert and Paul's finances, searched for a chest freezer and industrial liquidiser as well as looking up deadly poisons and and Albert were killed on 8 July. Paul was repeatedly hit with a hammer, shattering his skull. His body was then hidden in the bottom of a divan bed, while Mosquera waited for Albert to come a recorded sex session, Mosquera stabbed Albert to death, after which he sang and danced around the then accessed Albert's computer in an attempt to send £4,000 to his bank account in Colombia, as well as making other financial withdrawals. When this failed, he went to a nearby cashpoint and withdrew hundreds of pounds from Albert's dismembered their bodies days later - placing their heads in the chest freezer and transporting other body parts in suitcases to unexpected and brutal killing of Albert and Paul shocked their Dore said the nature of the murders have broken his heart. Mosquera was found guilty of the double murders after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court and he will be sentenced in October. Additional reporting by Fiona Lamdin, Adam Crowther and Beth Cruse.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Did Clifton Bridge 'body in a suitcase' murderer kill before? How savage butchery of gay couple in their London flat sparked fears he'd killed for Colombian cartels
As Douglas Cunningham was cycling home on July 10 last year he spotted a tourist hauling suitcases across Clifton Suspension Bridge who appeared a little lost. But when he stopped to help, it soon became clear that Yostin Mosquera was no ordinary holidaymaker. Dripping from the bulging suitcase in his hand was a bright red trail of blood. Now after the 35-year-old was convicted of killing Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, the full horrific story can be told of how the Colombian was just moments away from getting away with murder as he prepared to hurl two suitcases containing his victims' dismembered bodies over the bridge into the Avon Gorge 245ft below. In a twisted tale of greed, brutality and sexual deviancy, just 48 hours earlier the Colombian porn actor had savagely battered and stabbed the British couple to death before decapitating and chopping up their bodies to steal their £400,000 London home and life savings. Today as he faces a life sentence, it can be revealed that detectives believe the Jack the Ripper obsessed double murderer may have killed before. Hailing from Medellin, police suspect that Mosquera may have been involved with the ruthless drug cartels which made the Colombian city the murder capital of the world. But despite extensive inquiries in the UK, Colombia and elsewhere in the world, Scotland Yard have been unable to dig up anything from Mosquera's past to explain the brutally cold efficiency with which he carried out the murders which were captured on camera. Detective Chief Inspector Ollie Stride said: 'Our first thought was that this is not your first crime so we have done quite a lot of work looking at previous offending either here, or there or anywhere. We have not come across anything. 'We have got no evidence that he was involved in drug gangs but that was something that we thought about and looked at.' He revealed the level of violence used by Mosquera shocked detectives after he was caught on a web cam dancing and singing in jubilation within seconds of slitting the throat of Albert Alfonso. 'Watching the video it was quite brutal, clinical, we wondered whether there was any military training,' the officer added. In a country where more than half of crimes go unreported due to fears about corruption, police inaction and reprisals, it is perhaps unsurprising that there is little documented about Mosquera's murky background. By day, Mosquera claimed that he worked in IT in an office in Medellin where he lived with his wife and child. But he spent his nights doing 'modelling', earning extra cash as a 'performer' on a pornography website where he performed various sexual acts under the name 'I am black master' and 'Mr d*** 20cm'. Albert Alfonso first came across the tall muscular Colombian more than 10 years ago on a specialist website where he sold videos of himself performing sex acts involving defecation, urination and vomiting in return for payments between £20-£80. Police found bloody towels in the storage space of the divan bed which contained Paul Longworth's DNA The 62-year-old swimming instructor had what Prosecutor Deanna Heer, KC, described as a 'predilection for extreme sex, which he videoed and posted online on specialist websites.' When Mr Alfonso became a regular customer, Mosquera worked hard to befriend him and his 71-year-old handyman partner, who did not engage in the sordid sessions. In October 2023, the couple invited Mosquera to Britain where the trio enjoyed sightseeing trips around London, posing for pictures at Madame Tussauds, trips on an open top bus and a river boat. When Mr Alfonso paid for everything, Mosquera began to formulate a plan. On his return to Colombia, he filmed a provocative video, entitled 'For me, slave albert' in which he appeared dressed as Father Christmas. A short time later he invited the couple to holiday in Colombia in March 2024. Photographs on social media show the two greying men with their arms around the laughing younger man on speed boat trips, swigging beers and sheltering from the intense heat under a parasol. But behind the sunshine snaps, Mosquera was planning something darker. In June he was invited to stay again in the couple's home in Shepherd's Bush, this time with Mr Alfonso paying for a month-long English course, gym membership, and trips to Brighton where Mosquera was seen grinning drinking beer and going on a zip-wire. Even before he had landed in Heathrow, Mosquera had started researching the value of the victims' home. In the days that followed, he downloaded Mr Alfonso's bank details, passwords and started searching on Facebook Marketplace for a chest freezer and an 'industrial blender'. Other internet searches included 'serial killers of London', 'Jack the Ripper film' and he started looking for properties for sale in his home city. On the morning July 8 after Mr Alfonso went to work, Mosquera pounced on his elderly partner shattering his skull with nine hammer blows to the head. He bundled his body into a divan storage space under the couple's bed before going online to arrange for his flight home. When Mr Alfonso came home at 7.45pm, a masked Mosquera led him to the bedroom to make a sex tape. Jurors were shown graphic images from the video showing Mosquera approaching Mr Alfonso with a knife as the victim knelt naked on the floor in a submissive position. Mosquera, who was wearing a number of strap-on prosthetic penises, plunged a knife into Mr Alfonso's neck, stabbing him 13 times asking, 'Do you like it?'. During a prolonged struggle the two naked bloodied men fought, knocking over the web cam before Mosquera forced the victim onto the bed and slit his throat. The prosecutor said: 'What is striking, when one considers the footage, is just how calm and in control the defendant remains 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 before making his way directly to Mr Alfonso's desktop computer, which he then begins to use, and to access Mr Alfonso's finances.' As Mr Alfonso lay dying a few feet away from his hidden dead partner, Mosquera attempted to get into the victim's bank and Paypal account. Ms Heer described the chilling look on Mosquera's face: 'It is not shock, it is not horror, it is not concern for anything that is happening. 'It is elation, it is behaviour unperturbed by what has happened.' 'His actions were cold and calculated. He knew he had two bodies to dispose of. 'He continued to cover his tracks all the way to Bristol.' Over the next two days, Mosquera chopped up their remains with a saw, placing their heads in a chest freezer and body parts in suitcases before ordering an unsuspecting man with a van to take him to Bristol. After withdrawing hundreds of pounds from the victims' accounts, Mosquera sent messages from Mr Alfonso's phone to his boss claiming the victim was flying to Costa Rica for a family emergency. He might have got away with it, but for the chance encounter with the passing cyclist on the 160-year-old bridge. Mosquera tried to claim the red liquid oozing from the suitcase was oil from car parts, but when Mr Cunningham asked to see inside the case, he panicked and fled. Police launched a manhunt arresting the killer three days later sitting on a bench outside Bristol Temple Meads Station still wearing a bloodstained t-shirt. But astonishingly he tried to blame the murders on his victims, claiming he had stabbed Mr Alfonso in self-defence after watching him kill his partner. Jurors were unconvinced, convicting him of the double murder today after just five hours of deliberations. Mosquera showed no emotion as he was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court. He will be sentenced on October 24.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Man found guilty of murdering two men whose remains were found in suitcases
A man has been found guilty of murdering two men and dumping their remains in suitcases near Clifton Suspension Bridge. Yostin Andres Mosquera, 35, killed civil partners Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, on July 8 last year in their flat in Scotts Road, Shepherd's Bush, west London. Mosquera, who was also staying with the couple, 'decapitated and dismembered' them, froze parts of their remains and brought the rest in suitcases to Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, according to the prosecution. He repeatedly stabbed Mr Alfonso, who suffered injuries to his torso, face and neck, while Mr Longworth was attacked with a hammer to the back of his head and his skull shattered, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court heard. Mr Alfonso enjoyed 'extreme sex' and Mosquera, a Colombian national whom he met online years earlier, was part of that world, jurors heard. Mr Alfonso was stabbed to death during a filmed session, with footage shown in court recording Mosquera declaring 'do you like it?' and also singing and dancing in the aftermath of the attack. Mosquera's plan was to hurl the suitcases over the bridge to dispose of the remains after the 'calculated' and 'premeditated' killings, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said. Mosquera admitted killing Mr Alfonso but claimed it was manslaughter by reason of loss of control. He pleaded not guilty to murdering both men and insisted Mr Alfonso killed Mr Longworth. It took a jury five hours and three minutes to unanimously find Mosquera guilty. He had told the jury he feared for his own life and believed he was about to be killed when he stabbed Mr Alfonso. Mosquera said he thought Mr Alfonso would do to him what he claimed he had already done to Mr Longworth, he felt 'intimidated' and threats had been made to his family in Colombia. Mosquera's actions after stabbing Mr Alfonso, including singing and dancing, could have been an outburst as he had been overwhelmed by all that had happened to him, his defence counsel suggested. The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan KC, said he would sentence Mosquera on October 24. He said: 'I am not going to pass sentence on you today although the only one I can pass on you is one of life imprisonment. 'I am going to order a psychiatric report on you. It is in your interests to cooperate with the psychiatrist so that I can decide the minimum term you are going to serve.' The judge also turned to the jury and said: 'I want a psychiatric report on this man. I want to know if there is anything in this case going on that we do not know about.' He also thanked them personally, saying: 'We put serious demands on jurors, in this case more than most. 'It went on much longer than the two weeks you were expecting. In this case you have had to look at a very tough video. 'They were terrible brutal events and to read about it is a dreadful thing but to see it is really shocking. If you do want to seek help then speak to the court staff – above all, thank you.' Computer searches for the phrase 'where on the head is a knock fatal?' were made on the day the couple were killed and, under cross-examination, Mosquera could only say there was 'no reason' why he should have done that. Ms Heer KC told him: 'I suggest that you did that in the morning and why you were searching for 'where on the head is a knock fatal?' is because you were planning to kill Mr Longworth.' On July 10, Mosquera was driven to Bristol and he told a cyclist who spotted him on the bridge with a large red suitcase and a silver trunk that they contained car parts. Bridge staff noticed something appeared to be leaking from the red suitcase. Mosquera said it was oil and the staff shone their torches on the suitcases, he walked past and fled. Mosquera, who does not speak English, made repeated computer searches to find a freezer in the build-up to the killings. Many of the searches were in Spanish, some used Google translate and were also made while Mosquera was the only person in the house. He asked questions about delivery options and several searches were looking for a deep freezer, a chest freezer, a large indoor and outdoor freezer for sale. In the days before the killings, the phrase 'hammer killer' was tapped into the computer, the jury heard. The murder video was recorded during a sex session between Mosquera and Mr Alfonso. It captures them grappling before Mr Alfonso is stabbed. Seconds later Mosquera goes on to the computer to try and plunder from his victims' bank accounts. Jurors heard he had also attempted to open a bank account using the Scotts Road address. Immediately after the murders, he accessed a spreadsheet which contained their online banking passwords and he tried to log in to their online bank accounts. He unsuccessfully tried to send £4,000 to his account in Colombia. Witness statements, CCTV footage, digital and forensic evidence had to be pieced together to ensure the jury could see it 'was simply impossible for Yostin Mosquera's version of events to be true', Senior Crown Prosecutor Miranda Jollie said after the verdicts. She said: 'CCTV and employment records proved that Mr Alfonso was at work when Mr Longworth was brutally murdered, and Mosquera's search history on his laptop showed that he was looking to purchase a chest freezer even before committing his first savage killing. 'With a comprehensive timeline mapped out, the weight of evidence stacked up against him and meant that the jury could be sure he was responsible for murdering both victims.' Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Ollie Stride, who led the 'complex and intense' investigation, described it as 'one of the most harrowing murders my team have ever investigated, a case that will stay with many of us for a long time'. He said: 'Paul and Albert were murdered in the most brutal and callous of ways in their own home. 'The team have consumed hundreds of hours of footage, including some of the utmost disturbing and graphic nature. Those images will stay with all of us for a very long time.' Detectives worked with Avon and Somerset Police, who arrested Mosquera, and 'many witnesses who provided detailed accounts of events which must have been extremely hard to share'. They also worked closely with the LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group, who provided support, advice and helped monitor the investigation.
