Boyfriend ‘played peekaboo and screamed “this is Sparta” at cops after almost beheading lover in murder recorded on mobile phone’

A BOYFRIEND played peekaboo with cops and screamed “this is Sparta” after murdering his lover in a vicious attack that was accidentally recorded in a phone call, a court heard.

Alin Apopei, 27, is accused of almost beheading 25-year-old girlfriend Denisa Silma when she tried to leave him before dumping her body half-inside a wardrobe and covering her with a towel.

The Romanian national then fled their home in East Ham, east London, before police found him at around 6am the following morning.

He was taken into police custody where an officer claims he used a blanket from the bed in his cell to "play peekaboo" with her before shouting "This is Sparta".

The horrific attack, which is alleged to have happened between 2.05pm and 2.20pm on July 30, 2015, was recorded on his sister's voicemail after he accidentally dialled her number.

He can be heard saying "I'm going to kill you now" while she cries "Oh my god", the Old Bailey was told.

Denisa's body was discovered lying half-inside the wardrobe and covered with a large red towel when the owner of the house was persuaded to check on her at about 8.15pm.

Police arrived at the house to find the couple's bedroom covered in blood and a packed Union flag suitcase on the bed.

Denisa's body was found lying half-inside a wardrobe covered with a large red towel.

Jurors were told Apopei had sex with her seconds before the attack and the sounds of sexual activity can be heard on the recording.

One of their housemates recalled overhearing arguing from their bedroom and also said they had seen Denisa go upstairs with the suitcase.

Apopei was arrested at around 6am the following morning, and told police "I have been walking for hours".

PC Emma Mathias was one of the officers tasked with monitoring Apopei in his first 24 hours in custody.

In her notes, she recorded him saying: "It's not me. I was playing. It's been hard to stay calm."

He then took his shirt off and began crying hysterically, before shouting: "If I had been a murderer they wouldn't have guarded me this way. I can't chose who I want to be."

Apopei then began rapping in Romanian, the court heard, interspersed with maniacal laughter.

At one point he is alleged to have shouted "I killed her" while kicking the walls of his cell.

In her notes, PC Mathias wrote: "The lights were turned on and he starts laughing, at 3.39am he asks what his own name is and starts laughing.

"A minute later he asks if he can go outside."

At one point she recorded Apopei pulling the blanket off the bed and putting it over his bed to try and play peek-a-boo with her.

He then shouted "This is Sparta" before ranting as to why he had not yet been released, saying: "You can only keep me here for 24 hours".

Apopei repeatedly stripped naked, dressing himself when he was asked by officers, only to strip off again.

At one point he tried to turn a paper cup into a telescope to peer at his guards, and asked for a game of rock paper scissors.

He was charged with murder later that day.

Apopei denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility and has been accused of faking mental illness to avoid prison.

Jurors were told Apopei and Denisa, who are both originally from Romania, met in June or July 2014 and lived together in a room in a shared house in Eversleigh Road.

The court heard Denisa was a sex worker and may have been supporting Apopei on her earnings.

He drove her to appointments with men and designed her adult web page.

But the pair had a tempestuous relationship and would frequently break up and get back together again, jurors were told.

Apopei was often violent to Denisa, and had threatened to kill her on many occasions, the court heard.

A friend of Denisa's claims to have witnessed one row on August 23, 2015, as the three of them discussed the lyrics of a song playing on a car radio.

Denisa is said to have asked Apopei: "What will you do if I leave you?" and to which he allegedly replied "If you will leave me, I shall kill you".

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said: "Denisa told him he would go to prison and his life would be ruined. He replied: "If I go to prison, I will pretend I'm mad. They will put me in hospital and I will get free from there".

On another occasion, Apopei allegedly crashed his car into Denisa's car before dragging her out and repeatedly threatening to kill her.

He also attacked her when she was on holiday with a friend in Italy after making a surprise visit to Milan on Valentine's Day, the court heard.

Ms Johnson said: "It is the prosecution case that the defendant deliberately and viciously stabbed Denisa to death because he was enraged and jealous at the prospect of Denisa finally leaving him.

"It was, we suggest, no coincidence that she was packing her suitcase when she was stabbed to death.

"During the attack by the defendant on Denisa, it appears that the defendant's phone was activated - whether accidentally or deliberately is not known.

";It appears that the defendant dialled his half-sister and that call went to her voicemail facility and was subsequently recovered."

The cause of death was given as multiple incised wounds to the neck and chest.

Ms Johnson said: "The evidence is overwhelming that the defendant is responsible for killing his girlfriend.

"We anticipate that the critical issue for you to decide in this case is whether the defendant's responsibility for the killing is diminished because of a mental illness from which he was suffering at the time."

She said psychiatrists disagree over the issue, but added: "The prosecution case is that there is no defence available to the defendant. This was a killing committed in anger and jealousy."
The trial continues.

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