Man stabbed in eye by homophobic killer saw 'evil' in his face moments before
The survivor of a double killer targeting gay men said he saw "evil" in his face seconds before he was stabbed in the eye.
Brave Anthony Burke has opened up on the terrifying attack by Yousef Palani, who was jailed for life earlier this week for the homophobic murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee in Sligo, Ireland, last year. Palani targeted his victims in attacks fuelled by a hatred of homosexuality.
But Mr Burke, 50, revealed he had no idea Palani's intention was to behead him until it came out as evidence at the sentencing hearing in Dublin this week. The two met in April last year through gay dating app Grindr, where Palani used a false picture and the name "Joe King" before inviting Mr Burke to his home two nights in a row, expressing a fixation with tying him up.
Branding the sick killer a "coward" and "monster" who destroyed his life, he said he feared the monster would kill again if released. On the third night, Mr Burke said they had been walking near his home when he suddenly saw a rage in Palani's face.
Yousef Palani, pictured in grey prison uniform, is led into court shortly after being charged with the murders (PA)"You could see the temper in his face. There was an evil inside him. He wanted to get his own way, and because I wouldn't let him tie me up, he said 'I'm going to make this man suffer.'" Palani then came from behind Mr Burke and stabbed him in the eye.
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Burke, who was left blind in his left eye, said he only later realised that Palani wouldn't take off his jacket in the house because he was armed. He said: "He had the knife in my house. I didn't know at the time he had the knife under his jacket because he wouldn't take off his jacket. I asked him to take it off and he wouldn't and that's the reason why."
Palani went on to murder Mr Moffitt and Mr Snee at their homes in Sligo. Dublin's central criminal court heard on Monday how the murderer later told gardai he'd wanted to kill Mr Burke and "cut his head off", but that his victim "didn't cooperate".
Michael Snee, 58, was found dead at his home in the town (PA)
Aidan Moffitt, 42, was also murdered by Palani (PA)Mr Burke told the Irish Mirror: "I didn't know he wanted to chop my head or anything like that, the guards hadn't told me that. That was the first time I heard that. I was shocked. It was absolutely chilling. I just didn't know half of that stuff."
Mr Burke had given statements to the gardai who were frantically working to identify Palani after he had decapitated Mr Moffitt on April 10 and brutally killed Mr Snee two days later. A CCTV image taken from a shop in the town was obtained by detectives and it was the first picture they had of a crazed Palani.
He added: "They took the video evidence from the shop on his street. They asked me to identify that man and I said 'that's him'. And off we went out after him." Heroic Mr Burke later used his own social media to show that the suspect was still active on the app and was within 500 meters of his location, with detectives able to locate his Palani's address and arrest him in the early hours of April 13.
On helping the gardai arrest Palani, he said: "I didn't really want to do it but I wanted to make sure other men were safe because a lot were vulnerable." Courageous Mr Burke was hailed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for his bravery and role in catching Palani.
The victim said: "Over the past few days, I have been getting hundreds of text messages, some from numbers that are not even on my phone. I think some of these people have kids that are gay. And it was very nice of Leo Varadkar to say those words. But I also feel for the two other men and their families."
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