'Hallucinating' killer hacked sister-in-law to death after trying to deport him

09 October 2023 , 17:26

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Ms Mihalachi suffered a cleaved fracture to the forehead in the vicious attack in 2021 (Image: PA)

A convicted killer who hacked his sister-in-law to death with an axe after she repeatedly contacted the Home Office in a bid to have him deported has been jailed for at least 28 years.

Nicolae Virtosu, 49, was convicted of strangling his wife, Anastasia Virtosu, to death in Moldova in September 2009 but he was let out and came to the UK illegally in 2016. Virtosu had threatened to kill Svetlana Mihalachi, 53, before he murdered her with a hatchet as household tensions escalated over lockdown on 9 April 2021, the Old Bailey heard.

She had contacted Home Office Immigration Services in the hope that they would deport Virtuso and called police to report him a month before her death. Jurors saw body worn camera footage of Ms Mihalachi telling police officers she was scared Virtosu would kill her.

Killer Nicolae Virtosu was sentenced to at least 28 years in jail by an Old Baily judge (PA)

She told a practice manager at Reach Out Domestic Violence Hub that she did not understand why the Home Office and the police did not help her. "Do they want someone to be killed before they do anything?" she asked. Her case was due to be discussed at a multi-agency risk assessment conference on 20 April 2021 - but by then it was too late. Virtosu, of Barkingside, Ilford, was assisted in court by a Russian interpreter and denied murder and two counts of threats to kill.

But he was convicted of murder and making threats to kill by an Old Bailey jury. He was cleared of a second count of threats to kill. Virtosu had admitted manslaughter claiming he was suffering from psychosis when he killed Ms Mihalachi and having hallucinations of the Devil.

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Sentencing Virtosu to life imprisonment and ordering that he serve at least 28 years before he can be considered for parole, Judge Rosa Dean said: "There can be no dispute that Svetlana Mihalachi and her family were poorly served by the authorities here in the UK. Svetlana Mihalachi made sure that the Home Office were informed that you were living and working here illegally and that you had a conviction for unlawful killing. All that this achieved was a notice of removal.

"On 3rd March 2021, Svetlana Mihalachi called the police. She had to wait hours and call again before anyone came. The police response when they did come was not adequate as has already, quite properly, been acknowledged. No one who sat through the trial will forget Svetlana saying to the police, 'you mean that I am supposed to call the police after he kills me?' At the time of her killing, Svetlana believed that neither the police or Home Office were going to help her. Her husband was miles away.

"On 9th April 2021, you subjected your sister in law, Svetlana Mihalachi, to a brutal and vicious attack. You struck her up to 18 times with an axe. You targeted her head and one motion was described by the pathologist as a chopping motion.

"He said there was a cleaved fracture to the forehead - a heavy bladed axe as in 'chopped' into as if chopping a piece of wood with an axe. It is clear that she fought off your attack - she had defensive injuries including the loss of the tip of her finger. The body graphics gave the court a very clear picture."

Earlier Judge Dean had thanked the jury for their work on an 'awful, awful' case. She added: "It has not and has never been the policy of the Metropolitan Police that if a complainant isn't willing to go to court or provide a statement that the complaint is not investigated. These young officers have had some training and these failures have been addressed."

Ms Mihalachi was married to the killer's brother, Iurie Virtosu, and they had all lived together in Barkingside, east London, since 2018. Virtosu first came to the UK in 2008 and there was an incident where he put his hands around Ms Mihalachi's neck. He returned to Moldova 'to see his wife' and a few days later he strangled her to death. Virtosu served a jail sentence for the unlawful killing in Moldova then returned to England in 2016.

He waited until everyone had left the house before 'repeatedly and brutally' striking her with the hatchet, the court heard. The killer texted his brother to tell him his wife was dead after he attacked her and he came home to find his wife lying in an armchair with 'blood bubbling from her mouth'.

Ms Mihalachi remained alive in an induced coma until she died on 12 May, 2021. She had told a friend police were not going to do anything unless they 'saw her lying dead on the floor'. Virtosu had once said to his brother: "In the same way that I have killed my wife, I could easily kill yours too. It's not a big deal." Virtosu and Ms Mihalachi had started arguing about 'mundane things' like chores, noise and money and their relationship had deteriorated, the court heard.

She asked a friend of hers to send an anonymous letter to the Home Office Immigration Services in December, 2020 in the hope that they might remove Virtosu from the house and deport him because he was in the country illegally. But officers who attended the property in Barkingside believed Ms Mihalachi was sub-letting a room to the killer. She refused to give them a witness statement because she was scared, the court heard.

The officers said they would set up a crime reference and inform social services. Virtosu claimed he had heard voices on April 8 telling him to be careful and that he had an argument with Ms Mihalachi on the morning of the killing and believed she was the 'Devil'.

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He claimed he saw her eyes shining red when she looked at him and that he had no recollection of attacking her, only remembering being in a park later that day where he was arrested.

Jack Hudson