Suitcase murder accused ‘went to bridge to hurl bodies off’

A man accused of murdering and dismembering a couple specifically travelled to Bristol to “hurl” suitcases containing their bodies off the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a court has heard.

Yostin Mosquera, 35, denies murdering Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso on 8 July last year at their flat in London, where he was staying.

Summing up the prosecution case at Woolwich Crown Court earlier, Deanna Heer KC said Mr Mosquera’s “specific intention” was to throw the suitcases into the Avon Gorge, but he “miscalculated his own strength”.

“He chose to go to Bristol for a purpose – not because it began with a B or because of football – but because of the bridge,” she said.

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Mr Mosquera previously admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso by way of loss of self-control.

He is accused of murdering him by stabbing him to death during a recorded sex session at a flat in Shepherds Bush.

He is also accused of killing Mr Longworth with a hammer earlier on the same day and of then hiding his body in a divan bed.

Mr Mosquera denies murdering either man, and insists Mr Alfonso killed Mr Longworth.

The court was told Mr Mosquera dismembered the bodies and took them to Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in an effort to dispose of the remains.

The jury previously heard Mr Mosquera had only heard of Bristol in the context of “football” and had never been to the city before.

During his questioning on Friday, he told the court he had originally chosen to take the bodies to Brighton and had contacted a man with a van to arrange transport.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Mosquera said he decided to take the bodies to Bristol instead.

“[There was] no specific reason, just because it was in the same alphabetic order, I didn’t know anything about it,” he told the court.

Ms Heer said Mr Mosquera logged onto a computer to access Excel spreadsheets containing banking information and passwords within a minute of Mr Alfonso’s death.

Addressing the jury, she said: “Yostin Mosquera told you he accessed those documents probably because he needed money to take the suitcases to Brighton/Bristol.

“It demonstrates he must have very quickly been thinking about his next step.

“He knew he had two bodies to dispose of and he was getting on with it,” she said.

“It may not have been the best plan, nobody is suggesting he’s some kind of criminal genius but it was a plan that he set out to execute,” she added.

The trial continues.