Samurai sword killer of boy, 14, ‘was ‘flat Earth’ conspiracy theorist and fan of Elon Musk’

9 June 2025, 13:09 | Updated: 9 June 2025, 13:46

The samurai sword killer of a 14-year-old boy is a ‘flat Earther’ and conspiracy theorist who is a fan of Elon Musk and has praised the billionaire for spreading ‘the truth’ on social media, the Old Bailey has heard.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, is on trial charged with murdering Daniel Anjorin during a 20-minute ‘brutal string of attacks’ in Hainault, north-east London, on April 30 last year.

He denies the charge as well as four counts of attempted murder.

None of the victims were known to Monzo and “it did not matter who they were or indeed how old they were”, prosecutor Tom Little KC told the Old Bailey last week.

He told jurors that they may conclude “there can be little doubt that the defendant was intending to kill as many people as he could that day and that he is therefore just as guilty of the four charges of attempted murder as he is the charge of murder”.

He also told the court there was blood on Monzo's sword that did not belong to a human, which he says was the blood of his cat he killed and then skinned.

The court has now heard from Elizabeth Bananuka about Monzo’s ‘frightening views’ that he shared when he was working for her as a man with a van.

She said he called the Covid-19 pandemic a ‘plan-demic’ and mentioned “speaking the truth”.

Ms Bananuka told Monzo she did not use Twitter because of Elon Musk’s takeover of the site.

Many people have criticised Musk for allowing misinformation to spread via the social media platform, and silencing accounts critical of him or with different political opinions.

But Monzo praised Musk “allowing the truth to come out” on Twitter, now X, as well as his “freedom of speech” campaign.

Monzo reportedly told her he is a ‘flat-earther’ and that he believes there is “an area in Antarctica where anyone who has tried to go there has died.

“After that is where you would hit the wall, and we all live under a dome.”

He also ‘adamantly’ believed that the world is run by ‘evil lizards’, and that the Covid-19 pandemic was ‘created’ to silence people because there were “too many learning the truth”.

We are “all just like little ants being controlled,” Monzo told Ms Bananuka, telling her about a 9/11 conspiracy he believed.

“I found the views of Mr Monzo frightening, that he actually believed all of this”, she said.

The court heard that experts will assess Monzo’s mental state at the time of the attacks, as his lawyers are claiming diminished responsibility as a defence to murder.

Mr Little argued there is “no issue in this trial as to who carried out this brutal string of attacks and what the defendant did on that fateful early morning”.

He said Monzo had been under the influence of cannabis, and that: “We say that the defendant’s conduct was brought about by self-induced intoxication in the form of drugs.

“We say this led to a psychotic disorder but not one meeting the requirements to make out the partial defence to murder or manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.”

It is alleged that the first attack was when Monzo drove his grey Ford Transit van at speed into Donato Iwule.

The pedestrian was knocked into a nearby garden on Laing Close and the vehicle smashed a concrete pillar and fence, the court heard.

The defendant then exited his vehicle and struck Mr Iwule in the neck with the sword, jurors were told.

Footage played to the court appeared to feature Mr Iwule wailing and later running away after the alleged murder attempt that started at 6.51am.

Mr Little told jurors: “If he had not managed to escape it seems inevitable that he too would have been killed.”

Read more: British photographer undergoes surgery after being shot with 'sponge' bullets during LA protests

Read more: Eight million more pensioners to receive Winter Fuel Payment as full details of government's major U-turn revealed

The defendant then re-entered the badly damaged van and drove a short distance down Laing Close, the court heard.

Daniel was wearing headphones and school sports clothes when he left home for school at 7am and was “slain” by Monzo, Mr Little claimed.

The schoolboy sustained a “devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left hand side of his face and neck” from the sword, the prosecutor added.

Mr Little described the wound as “essentially a near-decapitation”.

Emergency services were called and police and paramedics arrived “at the point and just after” the alleged attack.

Pc Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield pursued the armed defendant through a series of alleyways through residential properties, the court heard.

Monzo struck her three times with the sword that had a 60cm blade, the prosecutor said.

She sustained “significant injuries” that could have “easily” killed her, he added.

Monzo is accused of then entering a nearby house through a backdoor and walking upstairs into a sleeping couple’s bedroom and attacking them.

Their daughter was sleeping in a bed next to theirs and Mr Little said: “They were spared only because in fact the four-year-old child woke up and started to cry.”

The defendant shouted to the couple on a number occasions, “do you believe in god?” before leaving the property through the front door, the court heard.

Police had been following the defendant and he was backed into a nearby garage area near to the other alleged attacks, the court heard.

He is accused of then striking Inspector Moloy Campbell once with the sword before attempting to escape police.

The defendant is said to have climbed on top a garage but he was eventually disarmed and arrested.

Monzo denies Daniel’s murder, and has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Donato Iwule, Sindy Arias, Henry De Los Rios Polania and Pc Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield as well as wounding Inspector Moloy Campbell with intent.

He also denies aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife.