British Gay Couple Murdered, Bodies Stuffed in Suitcases
A Colombian man is charged with murdering a gay couple and stuffing their bodies in suitcases, which he abandoned on a bridge.
A Colombian national has been charged with murdering a gay British couple whose remains were found stuffed into suitcases left at Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge and a London apartment.
Yosti Andres Mosquera, of Shepherd’s Bush, a suburb of west London located within the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, at their home between July 8-10.
Mosquera, 34, had reportedly been living with the men in Shepherd’s Bush for months prior to the murders. Longworth was a British national, and Alfonso was originally from France, with British citizenship. Neighbors say the couple had lived in Shepherd’s Bush for 15 years.
According to The Telegraph, pictures posted on Alfonso’s social media account show him, Longworth, and Mosquera on a boat off the coast near the city of Cartagena, Colombia. Another photo, taken two days earlier, shows the three men sitting on a beach together.
Mosquera was also photographed eating fish and chips in London in October, suggesting that he had been in the United Kingdom for at least nine months.
Police in Bristol were called to the Clifton Suspension Bridge around midnight on July 10, responding to reports of a man “acting suspiciously” while carrying a suitcase on the bridge. But the man, who had reportedly traveled by taxi, was gone by the time police arrived.
Police discovered human remains stuffed inside two suitcases that the man had allegedly left on the bridge. They questioned the taxi driver and tracked down leads to determine the man’s identity.
The bodies were eventually identified as Alfonso and Longworth.
Upon further investigation, police discovered more human remains at the couple’s home. Police eventually identified Mosquera as a person of interest in the case, and arrested him at Bristol’s Temple Meads railway station on July 13.
On July 15, Mosquera appeared in court to face the charges against him. He spoke briefly, through an interpreter, only confirming his name, address, and date of birth but offering no plea to the murder charges against him.
Evidence in the investigation has not pointed to a homophobic motive, but the crime has still been classified as a hate crime under national guidelines.
No other suspects have been named in the investigation.
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