Wednesday 18 May 2022 05:13 PM Tenant murdered landlords after becoming paranoid about Covid in first lockdown trends now
A coronavirus-paranoid tenant stabbed his landlords to death after becoming terrified of Covid risks during the first national lockdown.
Daniel Briceno Garcia, 46, attacked Sonia Butron Calvi, 66, and Edgar Aguilera Daza, 60, at the home they shared with five others in Stockwell, south London, on April 1 2020.
Police found the murdered couple lying in a 'bloodbath' at the property, the Old Bailey was told.
It was claimed Briceno Garcia had become worried about the risks of Covid and paying his rent in the pandemic in the shared property.
He had admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming he was mentally ill at the time.
Jurors deliberated for just 45 minutes to find him guilty of two counts of murder on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Tom Little QC had told jurors that there was no dispute the defendant stabbed the victims repeatedly with a knife in a 'brutal and frenzied' attack.
The couple had sublet rooms in the rented maisonette in Dorset Road to the defendant and five other Spanish speakers.
Garcia attacked he attacked landlords Sonia Butron Calvi, 66, and Edgar Aguilera Daza, 60
Mr Little said it was a 'worrying and concerning' time when the Prime Minister announced the first national lockdown on March 23 2020.
He said: 'Witnesses describe that the defendant had become concerned, if not paranoid, about the risk that Covid was going to pose, and was concerned about that in this property.
'That in itself you may think is understandable. It is quite another thing to react to the risks which Covid posed with the use of a knife.'
Jurors would also have to consider whether there had been any issues over rent and money.
On April 1, Ms Butron Calvi
