Uber driver murdered his wife after googling for ‘the most painful place to stab someone’
Husband will be jailed for life in court tomorrow
AN Uber cab driver who attacked his wife with a knife after trawling the internet for "the most painful place to stab someone" has been convicted of murder.
Jose Leonardo, 56, was on trial at the Old Bailey accused of killing mother-of-three Maria Mbombo, 52, at their home in Belsize Park, west London, on May 18.
Prosecutor John Price QC told jurors Ms Mbombo died at the scene after suffering multiple stab wounds.
He said there was no dispute that Leonardo killed her, but he has claimed it was manslaughter by "loss of control";.
Leonardo was found guilty of one count of murder, but cleared of one charge of perverting the course of justice.
The couple met in Holland in 1988 and moved to north-west London in 1993.
At the time of her death Ms Mbombo was working as a cleaner while the defendant was a driver for the internet-based company Uber.
At nearly midnight on May 18, the couple's 23-year-old son Carl Mbombo called 999 in tears and paramedics arrived to find him trying to resuscitate the mother on the floor of a bedroom.
The victim, who was wearing a white top and black knickers, was covered in blood and had been dead for "some while", Mr Price said.
She had been alone with the defendant until her children returned home shortly before the 999 call, the court heard.
Earlier that afternoon, the defendant's mobile phone was used to search Google for "can I survive stab in the eye" and "most painful place to stab someone".
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The defendant was in his flat with his dead or dying wife for an hour or so as his other son Jacques, 27, banged on the door and screamed to get in.
After slipping out, Leonardo tried to buy a bottle of beer in a nearby convenience store but was refused.
The shopkeeper noticed blood on his jacket and asked "what's that?" and Leonardo allegedly replied: "Just call the police."
Officers arrived to find Leonardo wearing a white vest drenched in blood and murmuring "my wife is dead".
Mr Price told jurors: "For all his statements of grief to the police officers at the hospital, the defendant, who would have been with her in their home whilst she slowly died, did nothing to summon help."
Leonardo will be caged for life at the Old Bailey tomorrow, with his minimum term yet to be decided.
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