Guilty: Man who killed Bethnal Green flatmate over a haircut
Jairo Sepulveda-Garcia will be sentenced on Friday. Picture: MPS - Credit: Archant
A killer who stabbed his flatmate to death with a kitchen knife during an argument over a haircut has been found guilty of murder.
David Fernando Lopez came to London for a better life. Picture: CPS - Credit: Archant
Jairo Sepulveda-Garcia attacked 32-year-old Spanish national David Lopez-Fernandez inside Pat Shaw House in Globe Road, Bethnal Green, on February 25 this year.
Cath Carrie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This was a mindless murder over a haircut.
"David Lopez-Fernandez had moved to London to start a new life and this was cruelly snatched away from him.
"Mr Lopez-Fernandez had only been in the country for three weeks and was not armed when he went to Sepulveda-Garcia's room and offered to give him a haircut.
The crime scene in Pat Shaw House, Bethnal Green. Picture: CPS - Credit: Archant
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"He could not have predicted the violence that would ensue," she added.
On the day of the murder, Mr Lopez-Fernandez - who had only been in the country for three weeks before his death - had knocked on the 37-year old defendant's door asking if he wanted a haircut.
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Sepulveda-Garcia told police officers that an argument followed after the victim hurt him with the clippers while cutting his hair.
Witnesses then saw Mr Lopez-Fernandez stumble out of the room saying he had been stabbed before collapsing in the hallway.
Mr Lopez-Fernandez sustained six stab wounds including a severe stab wound to the back of the knee.
Paramedics were called but despite attempts to revive him, Mr Lopez-Fernandez died at the scene.
Sepulveda-Garcia fled from the building, but later handed himself in to the police.
During the trial, jurors heard how the three-storey building with 38 flats inside had been a care home for the elderly until it closed in 2018.
At the time of the murder it was being used as a commune by a number of homeless people.
Today (Wednesday, December 18) Sepulveda-Garcia was found guilty of one count of murder following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Ms Carrie said: "Although nothing can bring their loved one back, I hope this conviction provides some comfort to the family and friends of Mr Lopez-Fernandez."
Sepulveda-Garcia, of no fixed address, will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, December 20.