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Students stabbed and set alight (London)
BBC ^ | 3 July 2008 | BBC

Posted on 07/03/2008 10:34:39 PM PDT by csvset

Students stabbed and set alight


Two French research students found stabbed to death following a flat fire had been tied up and suffered horrific, excessive injuries, police have said.

The bodies of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were found in a ground-floor flat in New Cross, south-east London, on Sunday night.

They had suffered a total of 243 stab wounds to the head, neck and chest before being set alight.

The biochemistry students had been studying at Imperial College, London.

Det Ch Insp Mick Duthie said he had no idea why the students were killed.

Fiancee's tribute

Speaking at a news conference at Scotland Yard, he said the flat had been broken into six days before and a laptop had been stolen.

He also said a white male was seen running from the scene of the fire, but police have not ruled out the possibility others might have been involved in the murders.

Police said they were shocked by the crime

Mr Bonomo's fiancee, Mary Bertez, wrote a tribute to him on the social networking website facebook.

She said: "I will never stop thinking about you for a second. I had 10 months of a happiness I had never experienced until then.

"Today you are gone. I will try to be as good as you always wanted.

"I will give all the required information to the investigation, my dear, so you can be avenged."

Mr Duthie said one line of inquiry was that the attack was a case of mistaken identity.

"We cannot find anything in these two young men's background to suggest they were involved in any criminality, that they had done anything wrong," he said.

'Frenzied, horrific attack'

The BBC's crime correspondent Ben Ando said Mr Bonomo had 196 stab wounds, including 100 to his back, and Mr Ferez had been stabbed 47 times.

He added a chemical was used as an accelerant in the fire.

Mr Duthie said: "The extent of the injuries are horrific. I have never seen injuries like this throughout my career.

"I would not say this was a professional attack. I would say it was a frenzied, horrible, horrific attack.

"I imagine it would take some considerable amount of time to inflict the nature of the injuries."

The detective said no weapon had been recovered during extensive searches in the area and police were studying some "limited" CCTV footage.

Mr Duthie said the postgraduate students had been in London since the beginning of May and were due to return to France at the end of July.

Imperial College's Rector, Sir Roy Anderson, said the students had "bright futures ahead of them".

The emergency services were called after residents reported an explosion in Sterling Gardens on Sunday night.

Mr Ferez, who lived at another south London address, was visiting his friend when the attack took place.

Mr Duthie said Mr Bonomo was known to be alive in the early hours of Sunday morning because he spoke to his girlfriend in France.

The parents of the two men are in the UK and have had to identify their sons, police said.

Police said Mr Bonomo, of Velaux, and Mr Ferez, of Prouzel, studied in Clermont-Ferrand, central France, and had been chosen to take part in a research project into chains of protein within DNA at Imperial College, which was due to last up to four months.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: biochemistry; biochemistrystudents; burglary; fire; flat; london; stabbed
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200+ stab wounds? Psycho acquaintance ? Jealous student? RIP.
1 posted on 07/03/2008 10:34:39 PM PDT by csvset
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To: csvset

That’s just bazaar. Sounds like a message is being sent IMO.

You don’t stab people like that without wanting to scare someone else very bad. And once the people are dead, what’s the fire for? It’s not going to cover the crime. It just places you at the scene longer.


2 posted on 07/03/2008 10:57:12 PM PDT by DoughtyOne ( I say no to the Hillary Clinton wing of the Republican party. Not now or ever, John McCain...)
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To: csvset
Mr Duthie said one line of inquiry was that the attack was a case of mistaken identity.

Seems more likely they were randomly selected by a sadist.

3 posted on 07/03/2008 10:57:18 PM PDT by AndyTheBear (Disastrous social experimentation is the opiate of elitist snobs.)
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To: csvset
They had suffered a total of 243 stab wounds to the head, neck and chest before being set alight.

Ok, who the hell counted all of those?

4 posted on 07/03/2008 10:59:58 PM PDT by eclecticEel (men who believe deeply in something, even wrong, usually triumph over men who believe in nothing)
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To: csvset

Most likely jealousy; crime of passion. Usually women use knives or poison, men use guns.


5 posted on 07/03/2008 11:01:58 PM PDT by pankot
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To: csvset

Wonder how many months the murderers will serve? BTW, aren’t knives outlawed in England? How could this happen, then?


6 posted on 07/03/2008 11:02:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only the Marxist Obama can!)
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To: DoughtyOne
You don’t stab people like that without wanting to scare someone else very bad.

Maybe the killer had some radical notions against biological research? But if they weren't random victims of sadism (my own pet theory at this point) it seems that there must be some kind of history that has not yet been forthcoming.

7 posted on 07/03/2008 11:02:49 PM PDT by AndyTheBear (Disastrous social experimentation is the opiate of elitist snobs.)
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To: csvset

What doesn’t make sense to me about this is that, as the article says, it would take a while to stab several hundred times. It would be difficult for one person (presumably) to control two young guys at once armed with a knife, not a gun. Could they have been killed separately or were they immobilized? Unless he managed to incapacitate both of them right away... Very, very evil and sad.


8 posted on 07/03/2008 11:09:38 PM PDT by buck jarret
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To: AndyTheBear

History or motive unknown... I think you’re right that another shoe is sure to drop on this one.


9 posted on 07/03/2008 11:23:45 PM PDT by DoughtyOne ( I say no to the Hillary Clinton wing of the Republican party. Not now or ever, John McCain...)
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To: csvset
Very sad. Here's a site where you can post your comments and condolences.
10 posted on 07/03/2008 11:28:19 PM PDT by Lusis ("Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.")
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To: csvset
Follow-up article.
11 posted on 07/03/2008 11:37:42 PM PDT by Lusis ("Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.")
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To: AndyTheBear
That amount of stab wounds even seems excessive for a psycho. More than one killer or somebody trying to send a message? There has to be more to this story.
12 posted on 07/03/2008 11:38:00 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (The man who said "there's no such thing as a stupid question" has never talked to Helen Thomas.)
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To: csvset

Horrible. Thanks for the post. I saw this earlier and was going to search here on FR


13 posted on 07/03/2008 11:41:03 PM PDT by happinesswithoutpeace (You are receiving this broadcast as a dream)
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To: Hillarys Gate Cult

Cherchez le islamist.


14 posted on 07/04/2008 12:16:43 AM PDT by Inkie (Attn Dems: Loose Lips Sink Ships -- but hey, I guess that's your goal))
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To: csvset
Could it be?? Could it be muslim fanatics loose in the UK?? Could it be just another muslim trying to convert a Christian?? Could it be just another muslim murdering an infidel?? Nowhere in this story is it mentioned who and what freak did this. Is the BBC doing it's damnest to keep the muslim secret alive?? Answer to all the above, not just yes, BUT HELL YES........
15 posted on 07/04/2008 12:18:12 AM PDT by antiunion person (President McCain, what a disgusting phrase.)
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To: DoughtyOne
You don’t stab people like that without wanting to scare someone else very bad.

Unless the perp is someone who gains sexual gratification from the act of stabbing human flesh.

16 posted on 07/04/2008 12:30:42 AM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Soldier soon to be training other Army Soldiers)
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To: eclecticEel

“They had suffered a total of 243 stab wounds to the head, neck and chest before being set alight.

Ok, who the hell counted all of those?”

In America the Medical Examiner, or Coroner, would have counted the number of wounds.

I am not sure of the English title for that job.


17 posted on 07/04/2008 12:57:28 AM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principles,)
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To: pankot

This was in the UK. No firearms. Not sure if the girlfriend has an alibi but seems it would be someone of that nature. There was a lot of emotion tied up in these killings.


18 posted on 07/04/2008 1:10:54 AM PDT by WildcatClan
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To: csvset

“excessive injuries...”

As opposed to just the right amount of injuries.

200+ stab wounds is not about a property crime. It’s a frenzied attack. Either the attacker knew the one with the most wounds or he represented something the attacker hated.

At least, that’s what the television tells me.


19 posted on 07/04/2008 1:21:48 AM PDT by PLMerite ("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
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To: csvset

Considering it is London, the amount of injury and the total disregard for the community with setting a fire... I would start investigating the homosexual angle.


20 posted on 07/04/2008 1:26:31 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (Vote For McCain But Trust In The Lord.)
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