Man ‘decapitated and dismembered’ couple before moving remains in a suitcase, court hears
A man “decapitated and dismembered” a couple in London before freezing their severed heads and carrying the rest of their remains to Bristol in a suitcase, a court has heard.
Yostin Andres Mosquera is on trial accused of the murders of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, in July last year, in the flat the couple shared in Shepherd’s Bush, west London.
Mr Alfonso was stabbed to death while being filmed and footage shows Mosquera – described by the prosecution as a “pornographic performer” – singing and dancing in the aftermath of the attack, the Old Bailey heard.
Mosquera admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso at a hearing on Tuesday but denies, and is being tried on, both murder charges.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors Mosquera “could hardly deny” killing Mr Alfonso and said the attack took place while the defendant and victim were having sex.
But Mosquera blames Mr Alfonso for the death of Mr Longworth, the court heard.
Mr Alfonso liked “extreme sex” and engaged in acts with other men, which Mr Longworth knew about and accepted but had “nothing to do with”, jurors were told.
The defendant is said to have visited the UK more than once, spending time with the couple and engaging in sex acts with Mr Alfonso in exchange for payment. The couple also visited him in his home country, Colombia.
When Mosquera visited the UK in June last year, he “had other matters on his mind,” the prosecutor said.
Analysis of his computer allegedly showed that shortly before his trip to the UK, the defendant searched for the value of the couple’s west London home, browsed for a chest freezer and copied spreadsheets with Mr Alfonso’s online banking passwords.
He is alleged to have killed Mr Longworth – who was “attacked with a hammer to the back of the head,” the prosecution said – and later Mr Alfonso, in their home on 8 July 2024.
“Albert Alfonso had been repeatedly stabbed, suffering multiple wounds to his torso, his body, and his face and to his neck,” Ms Heer said.
Forensics officers outside the couple’s address after the remains were found last July. Pic: PA
Jury shown footage of victim’s death
Footage of Mr Alfonso’s killing was shown to the jury, who were warned it is “not an easy watch”.
Prosecutor Ms Heer said Mosquera appears “unconcerned” after the “violent assault”.
“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 said.
The court heard examination of the computer showed Mosquera accessed a spreadsheet containing the couple’s online banking passwords and attempted to access Mr Alfonso’s accounts to move money – including trying to send £4,000 to his own account.
He made numerous cash withdrawals, obtaining at least £900 before the transactions started being declined, the court heard.
Cyclist’s encounter with defendant
At around 11.30pm two days later, a cyclist on the Clifton Suspension Bridge saw Mosquera standing next to a large suitcase and stopped to see if he was OK, the jury heard.
The witness also saw a large silver trunk a few metres away from the defendant, who said the luggage contained car parts.
The prosecutor said: “In fact, the suitcases contained the decapitated and dismembered bodies of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, which the defendant had transported to Bristol from their home in London where they had been killed two days before.”
Police found the couple’s decapitated heads at their flat in a chest freezer, the court heard.
Mr Alfonso, a swimming instructor, and Mr Longworth, a retired handyman, were described by neighbours as a “friendly couple who seemed happy together and who were genuinely fond of one another”.
They entered a civil partnership in February 2023.
The trial continues.
Three teenagers have been charged with the murder of a man in Kent.
Kent Police were called to an incident in Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey, shortly after 7pm on Sunday.
Alexander Cashford, 49, from Kent, was found dead at the scene, having suffered multiple injuries.
He was allegedly assaulted following a “disturbance involving a small group of people”, according to police.
Police at the scene in the Leysdown-on-Sea resort on the Isle of Sheppey. Pic: PA
A 16-year-old girl and two boys, aged 14 and 15, were arrested and taken into custody shortly after.
The three suspects, who were all from London, were charged with murder by joint venture on Tuesday.
They are due to appear before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The teenagers cannot be named for legal reasons.
Police officers carry out searches near the scene where Mr Cashford was found dead. Pic: PA
A 12-year-old girl was arrested on Tuesday in Basildon, Essex, in connection with the incident.
She remains in custody while enquiries continue.
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Kent Police are appealing for witnesses who have not yet spoken to detectives to contact the force.
Marnie’s first serious relationship came when she was 16-years-old.
Warning: This article contains references to strangulation, coercive control and domestic abuse.
She was naturally excited when a former friend became her first boyfriend.
But after a whirlwind few months, everything changed with a slow, determined peeling away of her personality.
“There was isolation, then it was the phone checking,” says Marnie.
As a survivor of abuse, we are not using her real name.
“When I would go out with my friends or do something, I’d get constant phone calls and messages,” she says.
“I wouldn’t be left alone to sort of enjoy my time with my friends. Sometimes he might turn up there, because I just wasn’t trusted to just go and even do something minor like get my nails done.”
The internet is said to be helping to fuel a rise in domestic abuse among teens. Pic: iStock
He eventually stopped her from seeing friends, shouted at her unnecessarily, and accused her of looking at other men when they would go out.
If she ever had any alone time, he would bombard her with calls and texts; she wasn’t allowed to do anything without him knowing where she was.
He monitored her phone constantly.
“Sometimes I didn’t even know someone had messaged me.
“My mum maybe messaged to ask me where I was. He would delete the message and put my phone away, so then I wouldn’t even have a clue my mum had tried to reach me.”
The toll of what Marnie experienced was only realised 10 years later when she sought help for frequent panic attacks.
She struggled to comprehend the damage her abuser had inflicted when she was diagnosed with PTSD.
This is what psychological abuse and coercive control looks like.
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‘His hands were on my throat – he didn’t stop’
Young women and girls in the UK are increasingly falling victim, with incidents of domestic abuse spiralling among under-25s.
Exclusive data shared with Sky News, gathered by domestic abuse charity Refuge, reveals a disturbing rise in incidents between April 2024 and March 2025.
Psychological abuse was the most commonly reported form of harm, affecting 73% of young women and girls.
Of those experiencing this form of manipulation, 49% said their perpetrator had threatened to harm them and a further 35% said their abuser had threatened to kill them.
Among the 62% of 16-25 year olds surveyed who had reported suffering from physical violence, half of them said they had been strangled or suffocated.
Earlier this year, Sky News reported that school children were asking for advice on strangulation, but Kate Lexen, director of services at charity Tender, says children as young as nine are asking about violent pornography and displaying misogynistic behaviour.
Kate Lexen, director of services at charity Tender
“What we’re doing is preventing what those misogynistic behaviours can then escalate onto,” Ms Lexen says.
Tender has been running workshops and lessons on healthy relationships in primary and secondary schools and colleges for over 20 years.
Children as young as nine ‘talking about strangulation’
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Lexen says new topics are being brought up in sessions, which practitioners and teachers are adapting to.
“We’re finding those Year 5 and Year 6 students, so ages 9, 10 and 11, are talking about strangulation, they’re talking about attitudes that they’ve read online and starting to bring in some of those attitudes from some of those misogynistic influencers.
“There are ways that they’re talking about and to their female teachers.
“We’re finding that from talking to teachers as well that they are really struggling to work out how to broach these topics with the students that they are working with and how to make that a really safe space and open space to have those conversations in an age-appropriate way, which can be very challenging.”
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Hidden domestic abuse deaths
Charities like Tender exist to prevent domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Ms Lexen says without tackling misogynistic behaviours “early on with effective prevention education” then the repercussions, as the data for under 25s proves, will be “astronomical”.
At Refuge, it is already evident. Elaha Walizadeh, senior programme manager for children and young people, says the charity has seen a rise in referrals since last year.
Elaha Walizadeh, senior programme manager for children and young people at Refuge
“We have also seen the dynamics of abuse changing,” she adds. “So with psychological abuse being reported, we’ve seen a rise in that and non-fatal strangulation cases, we’ve seen a rise in as well.
“Our frontline workers are telling us that the young people are telling them usually abuse starts from smaller signs. So things like coercive control, where the perpetrators are stopping them from seeing friends and family. It then builds.”
Misogyny to violent behaviour might seem like a leap.
But experts and survivors are testament to the fact that it is happening.
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