WIFE'S AGONY
My neighbour stabbed my husband to death… I will not say his name – to me he is the monster next door
THE heartbroken wife of a man knifed to death in cold blood says the murderer responsible should be known by no other name other than "the monster next door".
Can Arslan, 52, will spend a minimum term of 38 years behind bars after stabbing father-of-three Matthew Boorman 27 times on his front lawn in a pre-planned horror movie-style rampage.
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A court heard how Arslan acted like The Terminator while murdering the dad over a parking row.
Judge Johannah Cutts said Arslan had "caused terror" as she sentenced him to life at Bristol Crown Court.
Mr Boorman's wife Sarah told the court her family lived a "life of misery" in their own home in Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
And she added how the killer was so unpredictable that were too scared to use their garden or backdoor over fears the twisted killer would make threats.
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"We were always on edge, I will not say his name. To me he is simply the monster next door," she said.
Recalling the night that changed her life forever, Mrs Boorman added: "What I and my 12-year-old son witnessed that day will haunt us for as long as we live.
"Every day I wake up and my heart shatters more.
"I hear him saying 'no' as he was being stabbed and I see the man next door sitting on his body, laughing at me."
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In a victim impact statement, Mrs Boorman described her husband as a devoted father who loved playing with his children and "enjoyed all parts of parenting".
"Our children knew nothing but love and care and kindness," she said.
She continued: "Matthew was a good, honest and kind man who never fell out with anybody."
Mrs Boorman described how the family had endured years of Arslan threatening to rape and murder them, and verbally abusing them.
She said life was like "living in the middle of a war zone, we were always on edge about what was going to happen".
The Boormans' three children, then aged 12, seven and two, were in the house during the attack, with the eldest running to shut his siblings in the lounge to protect them.
Mrs Boorman said: "I struggle to explain to Matt's biggest fans, his children - they don't understand why a bad man would want to hurt their daddy so much they can't ever see him again."
I struggle to explain to Matt's biggest fans, his children - they don't understand why a bad man would want to hurt their daddy so much they can't ever see him again
Sarah Boorman
Mrs Boorman thanked the neighbours who had tried to save her husband and tackle Arslan.
"I want to say thank you to the heroes who came to help me and tried to save Matt," she said.
"Many of them were people I had never met before. I didn't know their names and I didn't know if they had families waiting for them, but they came to help me and tried to save Matt by selflessly running towards danger."
She continued: "These strangers, with kindness and love, came to my rescue."
The murder was the culmination of 12 years of threats from Arslan to Mr Boorman and other neighbours which began with a row over parking.
Many had installed expensive security systems in response to Arslan's aggression, and the killing was captured in graphic detail.
Mr Boorman's wife Sarah also suffered a deep wound to her leg as she tried to pull the defendant off her husband.
Arslan then forced his way into the home of another resident, Peter Marsden, and knifed him eight times, although he survived the attack.
Our children knew nothing but love and care and kindness
Sarah Boorman
The killer admitted the attempted murder of Mr Marsden, causing grievous bodily harm to Mrs Boorman, and a charge of affray, but denied murder.
He claimed his diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder lessened the offence to one of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but was convicted after a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
The prosecution said despite having a personality that lay outside of what is normal, Arslan was fully in control of himself and knew the difference between right and wrong.
The victims had been taking legal action against Arslan to try to get him evicted from the estate.
The spat erupted following a row over a "shared drive" but had continued to escalate with repeated threats to kill his neighbours.
Arslan would shout at them "I'll put you down" and was recorded six months before the killing stating: "I am going to f***ing do a massacre."
The brute branded his neighbours "motherf*****s" and "c**ksuckers".
RAPE THREATS
In May last year, Matthew told police he feared for his and his family's safety.
The dad said: "He makes reference to being ex-special forces and has made threats previously of rape. This week he has taken images of my daughters' bedrooms.
"I don't know what he's capable of and this causes myself and my wife to be continually anxious regarding the nature of Mr Arslan."
Just the day before the killing, Arslan had told a police officer he would murder his neighbour.
Jailing Arslan for life with a minimum term of 38 years, Mrs Justice Cutts said: "On that afternoon, for no reason at all, you took the life of a decent family man, robbed his children of their father, his wife of her husband, and his mother and siblings of a much-loved son and brother."
'ACTING AS A TERMINATOR'
Arslan regularly threatened to "put them in the ground" and told police he would "sort his neighbour out himself" and "murder him".
Prosecutors told the court that after 43-year-old Mr Boorman was killed, Arslan sat on his body and lit a "triumphant" cigarette.
Residents armed with golf clubs, bats and planks of wood managed to pen him in until police arrived, it was said.
Body-worn video footage of the arrest shows Arslan appearing to laugh as he was loaded into a marked van. He later claimed his teddy bear had told him to kill, jurors have heard.
Kate Brunner QC, for the CPS, previously told jurors at Bristol Crown Court the defendant was "a man acting as a Terminator, and terminating his neighbours in a very rational and controlled way".
Cops had been called to Arslan's home before the slaying, and he suggested that his wife put on either Terminator or Terminator 2: Judgement Day as they arrived, it was heard.
Ms Brunner said the way he "calmly" carried out the violence like a "horror film" showed his desire to "have the starring role and end up famous on TV", just like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"When this began, Mr Boorman's colleague was sitting at a desk on a routine conference call and could hear shouting and screaming," the prosecutor said.
"It was like she was hearing a truly horrendous horror movie. And it was a horror movie that was just beginning.
"This defendant had written a script - it was something he had planned and he controlled."
THE LAST GOODBYE
In a victim impact statement read at his sentencing hearing today, Matthew's widow Sarah Boorman said she could not bring herself to say his killer's name and referred to him throughout as the "monster next door."
She described Matthew as a "fantastic father who loved to play with his children every day."
She added: "He was my soul mate, my partner in life raising our beautiful children. We planned and had our future to look forward to.
"We were an amazing team. He was a good, honest kind man. As for the monster next door, we do not mention his name and we do not want to.
"Before he was killed, the man next door made our lives a misery for years.
"Every time we went out he would pretend to phone a hitman and threatened us. It felt like being in the middle of a war zone - we were always on edge about what was about to kick off.
"I will never forget 5 October. The morning was like any other morning - we did not know that morning was the last time the children would say goodbye to their daddy.
"That afternoon he arrived home and pulled up in his car at the front of our house. I walked to greet Matt as I always did but didn't get to ask how was your day. What happened next is a nightmare that repeats in intensity and torment every single day."
She then described watching him being "brutally and savagely attacked."
She said her children "don't understand why a bad man wanted to hurt their daddy" and says they need therapy to cope with what they witnessed that day.
She said one of their children heard screams and ran down and saw the horror of their dad being killed.
Sarah said the family suffer from flashbacks and anxiety and need "intense therapy."
She added: "My three children changed and will never be the same. No child should have to endure this.
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"I miss him so much. I am trying so hard to hold it together for my children but I can not bear the loss of him. I was heartbroken when Matt died and that never gets better.
"I am worried I did not do enough to save Matt. We will speak his name every day and remember him for the wonderful man he was."
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