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Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez Detectives have revealed the "horrendous" nature of injuries inflicted on two French research students found stabbed to death following a fire at a house in New Cross on Sunday. Speaking at a press conference at New Scotland Yard, DCI Mick Duthie from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command who is leading the investigating, said he had never seen injuries as "horrific "in his career and appealed for witnesses to come forward. The bodies of Laurent Bonomo from Veleux, France and Gabriel Ferez, from Prouzel, France, both of whom were 23, were discovered in Laurent's ground floor flat after emergency services were called to a fire at the address in Sterling Gardens, SE14, around 10.10pm on Sunday 29 June. Gabriel had been living in South Norwood. Both had been studying bio-chemistry at Imperial College London. Post-mortem examinations on Tuesday at Greenwich mortuary revealed both died from multiple stab wounds to the head, neck and chest before the fire took hold. Their families have travelled from France and identified the bodies this morning (3 July). Laurent was stabbed 196 times and Gabriel 47 times in the brutal attack and may have been bound. An accelerant had been spread throughout the flat. DCI Duthie said all those working on the case were shocked by the violence of the "frenzied" attack but there were no indications of why anyone would want to murder the pair and urged those who knew the two to help build a picture of their lives in London where they had lived for the past two months. "They were hard working students who had never been in trouble with police either here or in France, " he said. "The level of violence was extreme." A white male was seen running away from the flat shortly after an explosion was heard by neighbours. A laptop had been reported as stolen in a break-in at the flat six days prior to the murders but the premises appeared secure when the fire brigade forced entry. "The extent of injuries to both victims is horrific. Everyone working on this case including myself has been deeply shocked at what we have encountered. I have never seen injuries to this extent during my career," DCI Duthie added. "I do not know why they were killed or who killed them but I believe the person or persons responsible would have been blood-stained as a result of this attack." Forensic searches at the scene are ongoing. No murder weapon has been recovered DCI Duthie appealed for help from the victims friends colleagues and people in the area at the time: "We would like to speak to anyone at Imperial College who may have known Laurent and Gabriel. Did either of them express any concerns about anything at all? Who did they socialise with and where? Did anyone see them at any time on Sunday 29.06.08? "To anyone who lives or was visiting or travelling through the area, did you hear or see anything? Did you see anyone acting suspiciously either on foot or in a vehicle? Was there something that seemed out of place to you at the time? "Are you aware of anyone who since Sunday night has disposed of clothing or has been acting out of character? "Please wrack your brains for anything you may recall that was different. If you think of anything, however insignificant it may seem to you, it could help us to move forward on this investigation. Please call the Incident Room on 020 8721 4155 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111." http://cms.met.police.uk/met/news/ |
