LONDON MAN WITH A HATRED OF WOMEN JAILED FOR AXE MURDER
A man with a deep-seated hatred of women has been sentenced to at least 28 years in prison for murdering his sister-in-law with an axe.Nicolae Virtosu, aged 49, attacked Svetlana Mihalachi on April 9, 2021, at her home in Ilford, east London, as reported by the Old Bailey court.
Ms Mihalachi, 53, succumbed to her injuries five weeks later.
It was revealed that in 2010, Virtosu was convicted in Moldova for unlawfully killing his wife, Anastasia, by strangulation.
Judge Rosa Dean stated that the murder was 'planned in cold blood and out of hatred' and criticized the authorities in the UK for being 'poorly served' after she had reported Virtosu to both the Home Office and the police.
The court heard that Ms Mihalachi's final months had been 'filled with fear,' and that her relationship with Virtosu was fraught with arguments over chores, noise, and money before he began to threaten her.
She had informed authorities about Virtosu's criminal background and his illegal status in the UK, expressing her wish to avoid living with him.
Despite this, her calls for help were deemed 'inadequate' by the judge.
Virtosu was described as having harbored a hatred towards her, and he fetched an axe from a garden shed before attacking Svetlana up to 18 times, then walked away and texted his brother to inform him of her death.
During his trial, Virtosu's defense claimed diminished responsibility due to a psychiatric disorder, but Judge Dean dismissed this, emphasizing that he was an angry and impulsive man and directly accused him of being a misogynist with a 'deep-seated hatred of women' who could not tolerate her authority.
The court sentenced him to a mandatory life imprisonment.
It was also relayed that when he was 18, Virtosu was involved in a group attack and rape of a woman at a hostel.
His brother, Iurie Virtosu, expressed in a victim impact statement that he no longer considers Nicolae his brother, feeling hatred and unable to forgive him for the crime.
Detective Constable Rosamund Ellis of the Met Police stated that Virtosu's claims of mental health issues were false, asserting that his actions clearly demonstrated anger and violence, not delusions, and that he had threatened to kill before.
The court highlighted the immeasurable loss of Svetlana Mihalachi's family and friends, who mourn her death as a wife and mother.
