London murderer mutilated victim's genitals ‘because she was a lesbian’
Michael Purcell attempted suicide after the attack telling medics ‘just let me die’
A steelworker who murdered his flatmate, stabbing her 48 times to steal £1,000 from her room, inflicted horrific injuries to her genitals as she lay dying, the Old Bailey heard.
Michael Purcell was jailed for life on Wednesday with a minimum tariff of 23 years for the murder of 49-year-old Imelda Molina at the flat they shared in Ashford Court in Cricklewood, North London.
Purcell, who owed £8,000 in tax, carried out the attack in order to steal the money from Ms Molina’s partner, who found her mutilated body minutes after the attack.
Sentencing, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said Purcell’s additional attacks on the victim’s genitals were carried out because she was a woman or a lesbian.
She said: “There has never been a clear account of what happened in the flat but I am satisfied there came a time where Ms Molina was under threat and either fled to her room or was already there and locked the door from the inside.
“When she was dead or dying he made a further attack with the knife in her genital area.
“It is impossible to interpret your decision to carry out this later attack as anything other than an attack made in reference to her sex or sexual orientation which you knew to be lesbian.”
Following the attack Purcell used a Stanley knife to inflict a large cut to his own neck and wrists.
“I killed the woman next door, just let me die,” Purcell told officers and medics who attended the scene.
Purcell claimed to have no memory of the incident, due to his heavy use of alcohol in the preceding weeks.
He was found guilty of murder and burglary after an 11-day trial at the Old Bailey in April.