15 July 2024 06:09 pm Views - 2737
A 34-year-old man was charged Monday with murdering two men whose remains were found in two suitcases in southwest England.
London's Metropolitan Police said Yostin Andres Mosquera has been charged with murdering Albert Alfonso, 61, and Paul Longworth, 71. He is due to appear in a London court later Monday.
Police said the victims had previously been in a relationship and still lived together, and that the suspect had been staying with them at their west London apartment.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said "the evidence gathered so far does not suggest there was a homophobic motive" to the killings. However, officers followed national guidelines and have initially categorized the incident as a hate crime, he said.
"I hope it will be of some reassurance that whilst enquiries are still ongoing and the investigation is at a relatively early stage, we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the two murders," Valentine said.
The suspect was arrested at a train station in Bristol on Saturday, three days after the grisly discovery of body parts in suitcases on the city's Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Police officers arrived at the iconic bridge at around midnight Wednesday, 10 minutes after receiving reports of a man behaving strangely. But the man, who had traveled there by taxi, was already gone.
Police found more remains at the victims' home in London.
Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by the pioneering engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is one of the oldest surviving suspension bridges in the world. The landmark bridge spans the Avon Gorge, and was designed by noted Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The gruesome discovery came just one day after police in England detained a 26-year-old man after an hours-long manhunt following the murders of three women with a crossbow. (cbsnews)