Man ‘murdered couple before freezing some remains and bringing rest to bridge’

A man “decapitated and dismembered” a couple, froze parts of their remains and brought the rest in suitcases to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol before stealing from them, a court has heard.

Yostin Andres Mosquera faces trial for the murders of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, on July 8 last year in the flat the two shared in Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush, west London.

Mr Alfonso was stabbed to death while being filmed, with footage recording Mosquera, 35, singing and dancing in the aftermath of the attack, the Old Bailey heard.

The defendant, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso by way of loss of self-control during a hearing at the court on Tuesday, but denies and is being tried on both charges of murder – the prosecution claims Mosquera was “in complete control” of his “strategic and premeditated” actions.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told jurors at the Old Bailey on Wednesday that Mosquera “could hardly deny” killing Mr Alfonso, telling them the attack took place while the defendant and Mr Alfonso were having sex – with both the sex and the killing recorded on film.

But the court heard Mosquera blames Mr Alfonso for the death of Mr Longworth.

Mr Alfonso, who worked as a swimming instructor, and retired handyman Mr Longworth were described by neighbours as a “friendly couple who seemed happy together and who were genuinely fond of one another”.

They entered into a civil partnership in February 2023.

The court heard Mr Alfonso liked “extreme sex” which Mr Longworth, who knew about it and accepted it, had “nothing to do with”.

Mr Alfonso would engage in acts with other men, including Mosquera, jurors were told – with the defendant described by the prosecution as a “pornographic performer”.

It was said Mosquera visited the UK more than once and spent time with Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth, engaging in sex acts with the former in exchange for payment, and that the couple also visited the defendant in his home country of Colombia.

“They seemed to enjoy one another’s company,” Ms Heer said of the trio, also telling the jury how Mr Alfonso arranged a guest membership for Mosquera at the gym where he worked and asked for the defendant to be included in the staff five-a-side football WhatsApp group.

On Mosquera’s claims over the death of Mr Longworth, Ms Heer said Mr Alfonso had “no reason” to kill his “lifelong friend and partner”.

“Their relationship was undoubtedly unconventional but whatever you may think about the way that Albert Alfonso conducted his sex life, the evidence also suggests that they accepted one another and that they cared for one another,” she said.

The prosecutor told the jury that Mosquera “had other matters on his mind” when he visited Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth in June last year.

Analysis of the defendant’s computer allegedly revealed that between June and July 8 he searched for the value of the couple’s west London home, browsed Facebook marketplace for a chest freezer, copied spreadsheets containing Mr Alfonso’s log in details for his online bank accounts onto his laptop and searched for “serial killers of London” and “Jack the Ripper film”.

On July 8, Mosquera allegedly killed Mr Longworth and later Mr Alfonso in their flat and then “set about trying to steal from them”.

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

“Paul Longworth had been attacked with a hammer to the back of his head, suffering repeated blows, which shattered his skull,” Ms Heer.

“Albert Alfonso had been repeatedly stabbed, suffering multiple wounds to his torso, his body, and his face and to his neck.

“None of that is in dispute.”

Footage of Mr Alfonso’s killing was shown to the jury, with Mr Justice Bennathan warning them: “It is not an easy watch.”

“It is obviously a violent assault but what is striking when one looks at the footage is just how calm and just how in control Mr Mosquera remains throughout,” Ms Heer said.

“Indeed, so unconcerned does he appear by what he has just done that, 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.”

The court heard examination of the computer showed Mosquera created a PowerPoint of the couple’s banking information, accessed a spreadsheet which contained their passwords for online banking and attempted to access Mr Alfonso’s different accounts to transfer money – including trying to send £4,000 to his own account in Colombia.

He made several cash withdrawals from Mr Alfonso’s different bank accounts, obtaining at least £900 before the transactions started getting declined, the court was told.

Mosquera is also said to have messaged Mr Alfonso’s manager the morning after the killing from the victim’s phone explaining he was flying to Costa Rica for a family emergency and planned to stay for around eight weeks.

At around 11.30pm on July 10, a cyclist making his way across the Clifton Suspension Bridge spotted Mosquera standing next to a large red suitcase and stopped to see if he was OK, thinking he was a tourist, jurors heard.

The witness also spied a large silver trunk a few metres away from the defendant before Mosquera told him the luggage contained car parts, jurors were told.

“That was a lie,” prosecutor Deanna Heer KC 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.”

The prosecution alleges Mosquera took the suitcases to the landmark to “dispose” of them, but the jury heard he was questioned by the cyclist and bridge staff, who “noticed that something was leaking from the (red) suitcase”, before abandoning both items and running away.

The police were called, they discovered the cases contained body parts, and searched the Scotts Road address on the label of the silver trunk, before finding Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth’s decapitated heads, as well as other body parts, at their flat in a chest freezer, the court heard.

A forensic scientist concluded the bones had been cut by the same style of saw or power saw.

Mosquera was arrested in the early hours of July 13 on a bench outside Bristol Temple Meads station.

“The prosecution case is that the defendant murdered both men, that he intended to kill them, that his actions were planned and premeditated and that, having killed them, he immediately set about trying to steal from them,” Ms Heer said.

The trial continues.