Two Italian men guilty of double murder in London, England

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Two Italian nationals have been found guilty of the brutal murder of two men after a friendship turned sour.

30-year-old Claudio Lamponi, [A], of 68A Norwood High St SE27 and 41-year-old unemployed Massimo Manai [C] of no fixed abode, unemployed were found guilty at the Old Bailey of the murders of 61-year-old Donald Macpherson and 50-year-old Luciano Schiano at Summersell House, Bentons Rise, West Norwood SE27.

At approx 01.30hs on Tuesday 13 October 2009 Claudio Lamponi and Massimo Manai entered Luciano’s flat with the intention of murdering him and anyone else who was there. Donald Macpherson, who had gone to bed in the bedroom next door did not even know the suspects and just happened to be there.

Donald fought his attackers in a vain attempt to defend himself before he was overcome.

Police were called to the flat on 20 October, after relatives had become concerned that they had not seen Donald for some time. They arrived at approximately 22.15 on that evening to find the lifeless bodies of the two men.

On the evening of Tuesday 13 October Luciano was at home in his flat watching television and his lodger Donald had gone to bed. Luciano was believed to have been watching television when Lamponi and Manai either let themselves into the flat or he answered the door to them allowing them to enter the property.

Luciano had been friends with fellow Italian Claudio Lamponi for several years. The close friendship had recently soured after a party at Lamponi’s flat where a fight broke out between Luciano and another acquaintance, Massimo Manai, aged 41.

Luciano had made a pass at Manai’s girlfriend during the party which led to the fight between them. From this point on Lamponi began to withdraw from his friendship with Luciano.

The attack on the evening of 13 October on both Luciano and Donald was so violent that they had over 100 stabs wounds between them. Donald had also been hit with an iron so repeatedly that the iron itself had fallen apart.

The police investigation involved retrieving extensive DNA forensics from the flat and also from the suspects’ flat. Numerous blood samples were taken and DNA of both suspects was found – linking them both to the murders.

Lamponi was arrested at his home on Wednesday 21 October. Manai was initially spoken to as a witness on 26 October but after DNA samples linked him to the crime scene, he was arrested on Saturday 7 November.

Detective Chief Inspector Damian Allain said:

"These men were savage in the extreme in their attack upon the victims who had no opportunity to defend or protect themselves. Throughout the investigation Manai and Lamponi denied being the murderers and were arrested and interviewed on several occasions, before compelling forensic evidence emerged linking them to the scene.

"This was an extremely complex investigation. The day after the killing Lamponi booked a flight to his home city of Naples, with a view to constructing an alibi in the belief the bodies would not be found straight away. In fact, following discovery of the bodies a week later, the investigation was able to establish the last movements for the victims through CCTV, telephone calls and enquiries with witnesses.

"At trial Lamponi denied involvement and Manai for the first time suggested that Lamponi had carried the attack out and that he had tried to prevent Lamponi killing Donald Macpherson, sustaining an injury from a knife in doing so. This was complete fantasy. The exact motive to this day is unclear, but it is believed the murder was linked to an earlier fallout in friendship between the defendants and Luciano Schiano.

"What is clear is that Donald Macpherson was totally unknown to these two. He was caught up in this evil attack and lost his life in a most violent way for absolutely no reason or motive. I can only hope that today’s verdict brings some small comfort to the families of both these men."

Both the convicted men will be sentenced at 10am tomorrow, 15 July.

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