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Stalker in a Phantom mask stabs receptionist to death
Justin Davenport, Rashid Razaq and Rob Singh23.09.08
A stalker wearing a Phantom Of The Opera-style mask stabbed a woman to death and injured another before turning the knife on himself in an east London college.
Witnesses said the killer, wearing a curly black wig as well as the white mask, repeatedly stabbed the woman's lifeless body in the frenzied attack. They heard the victim's co-worker scream "he's killing her".
A man is in hospital where detectives are waiting to quiz him. It is understood the victim had been harassed for a number of days prior to the killing.
About 40 police officers arrived at St George's College in Plaistow after the man stormed the building and stabbed the two women shortly after 6pm.
The dead woman, who was 23 and of Pakistani origin, was knifed in the neck and chest during the attack yesterday evening. Her partially clothed body was found at the scene.
The second woman was taken to hospital but discharged later. The man, aged 29, is believed to have slashed his own throat in an apparent suicide bid after stabbing the women. He was in a stable condition under police guard.
Both women are thought to have been working as receptionists at the independently owned language college. The victim is also thought to have worked as a teacher. They were in an office above a shop when the masked assailant burst in. The injured woman was able to escape and raise the alarm.
Witnesses told how the attacker was surrounded by unarmed police officers who wrestled the knife from him.
The woman who was injured and witnessed the murder was named as Kiran Asghar. Her husband Irfan Sheikh is the owner of the college. Today he said: "We have absolutely no idea who the killer is. My wife is at home recovering."
Ijaz Malik, 40, runs a builders merchants under the college. He said the attacker continued stabbing his victim even after she was unconscious. He said: "I saw a guy wearing a long dark coat and a black shoulder-length wig. He wasn't wearing the mask then. He turned away from me so I didn't see his face.
"I saw him go into the college, 20 minutes later I heard a scream. A girl ran out screaming: 'He's killing her, he's killing her.' I ran upstairs and saw him stabbing her with a big carving knife.
"She was already dead but he was stabbing her again and again. When he saw me he chased me down the stairs. I locked the door behind me and called the police."
He added: "It was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life." The small college runs courses in subjects from travel tourism to computing and is believed to have three teachers.
Detective Chief Inspector Bob Mahoney said: "The suspect was seen immediately before the incident in the local area wearing a black curly wig and a Phantom Of The Operastyle mask. I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the first officers on the scene - one a probationer - who with little regard to their own safety ran inside and disarmed the suspect of the knife he was holding."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8345 3775 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
