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Man, 33, hands himself in over student murders
Rob Singh and Benedict Moore-Bridger7 Jul 2008
A man gave himself up to police early today over the "Tarantino-style" murders of two French students.
The 33-year-old man walked into a south London police station and was immediately arrested in connection with the murder. The suspect was then taken to hospital but police would not discuss his injuries.
Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were set alight after being stabbed in a frenzied attack a week ago in a New Cross flat. Another man, aged 21, was arrested on Friday but released without charge yesterday.
Detectives said they still do not know how many were involved in the attack between 1am and 10pm last Sunday. They are still trying to piece together the final hours of the two students after it emerged that Mr Bonomo's fiancée, Mary Bertez, was the last to speak to either man when she rang him at about 1am last Sunday.
Detectives now want to find out what happened in the following 21 hours before their bodies were discovered.
Yesterday police carried out door-todoor enquiries in New Cross and officers are following up dozens of leads.
More than 100 people who attended services at the nearby Baptist Church in Cottesbrooke Street have been approached by police.
Officers stopped cars in streets around Sterling Gardens last night to hand out leaflets and an e-fit of a suspect seen fleeing the scene in Sterling Gardens. The man is white, aged 30 to 40 and slim. He was wearing a light-coloured baseball cap, dark top, blue jeans and white trainers. Mr Ferez and Mr Bonomo were both promising graduate bio-engineering students on a three-month DNA research project at Imperial College.
They were bound and stabbed to death at Mr Bonomo's rented flat. He had been knifed nearly 200 times, Mr Ferez nearly 50 times. Their bodies were then set alight.
Police are searching for the men's bank cards to discover if they have been used since the killing. They are also keen to trace two handheld Sony PlayStations which Mr Bonomo bought and are also missing. Police believe their deaths are linked to a burglary at the flat six days before.
