A demented hammer assaulter who bludgeoned a man in a graveyard to live out his ‘depraved fantasy’ of eliminating a complete stranger has actually been imprisoned for a minimum of 28 years.
Erik Feld, 37, had an enduring fixation with severe violence prior to he killed Ranjith Kankanamalage in a premediated attack, the Old Bailey heard.
He fed his fixation by purchasing a kitten in order to eliminate it and binge-watching online ‘snuff films’ illustrating males and females being killed in comparable attacks to the one he would later on devote.
In the early hours of August 16, 2021, Feld concealed in the shadows behind a monolith in Tower Hamlets cemetery in east London previously striking Mr Kankanamalage 12 times in the face and head with a claw hammer.
The 50-year-old victim was discovered with disastrous injuries by a member of the general public on a course in cemetery park later on the very same early morning.
In his trial, Feld prepared what the judge referred to as an unbelievable ‘cock-and-bull’ story and introduced a homophobic tirade at the victim, who had an ex-wife and 2 kids in Sri Lanka and an ex-civil partner in the UK.
He was condemned of the ‘horrific and abhorrent’ murder in March and, on Wednesday, Mr Justice Bryan imprisoned him for life with a minimum regard to 28 years.
The judge said Feld selected a ‘creepy and Gothic’ setting since it harmonized his enduring desire to eliminate a complete stranger with a hammer and Mr Kankanamalage had the ‘severe misfortune’ to cross his course.
Mr Justice Bryan informed Feld his ‘selfish, callous, abhorrent actions carried out to fulfil your depraved fantasy’ had a disastrous influence on Mr Kankanamalage’s liked ones.
The court heard Feld had 10 previous convictions for 18 offenses in between 2002 to August 19, 2021, consisting of criminal damage, sex attack, battery and ownership of an offending weapon.
Among the offenses: he had actually displayed an axe at travelers on the London Underground and sprayed black paint on his face and the word ‘kill’ on a Tube window.
Feld was jailed on August 20, 2021, as he was waiting for sentence for waving a claw hammer outside a Poundland store 2 days after the killing.
A search of his home in Tower Hamlets, east London, exposed 2 mallets and a sledge hammer in a corridor cabinet, and a 3rd mallet in a living-room cabinet.
He was re-arrested in January 2022 after his DNA was discovered on bloodstained nail clippings from the left hand of his victim and he was found on CCTV video in the location of the cemetery.
In a fresh search of his flat, cops discovered another hammer and a cut-throat razor by Feld’s pillow.
Prosecutor Paul Cavin KC checked out a series of victim effect declarations, consisting of one from the victim’s child, Hiruni, on behalf of herself, her mom and younger bro who saw the sentencing by video link from Sri Lanka.
She explained him as a kind and friendly individual with life-long love of knowing and an aspiration to certify in accountancy.
Hiruni said: ‘He was a senior bank manager in Sri Lanka, a very accomplished athlete who won gold medals and completed two degrees in Sri Lanka as well as academic courses in the UK.’
He was intending to use to end up being a British person and resume his profession in banking, she included: ‘Before his dream came true, he was brutally murdered.’
Former civil partner John Kennedy informed how he satisfied Mr Kankanamalage at the Hilton Hotel in Heathrow where the victim was operating at the time.
He said the realisation of what took place to him ‘hit me like a ton of bricks’ and he was taken in be sorrow, anxiety and deep unhappiness.
Mr Kennedy said he likewise felt sad for Mr Kankanamalage’s family in Sri Lanka, stating: ‘This was such a cruel and cowardly attack on a gentle and kind man who was just chilling in the park.’
Defending, Andrew Morris highlighted Feld’s ‘severe personality disorder’.
The killer’s mom passed away when he was aged 11, he had no relationship with his daddy and matured in an ‘abusive household’, Mr Morris said.
Feld stood with his arms crossed in the dock and made no response as he was sent down.
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