Wife killer Nicolae Virtosu also battered sister-in-law to death

The attack happened at a shared home in Ilford, east London

A convicted wife killer battered his sister-in-law to death with a hatchet, a court has heard.

Nicolae Virtosu, 48, attacked Svetlana Mihalachi in Ilford, in east London, in April 2021 after "tensions escalated". She died five weeks later.

The jury was told there was no dispute that Virtosu, who strangled his wife 12 years ago in their native Moldova, was also responsible for killing Ms Mihalachi.

He claims he thought she was "a devil".

Virtosu is accused of murder and making threats to kill.

Prosecution barrister Catherine Pattison told jurors at the Old Bailey: "There is now no dispute or issue that it was this defendant that killed the victim and that he did so by striking her repeatedly with a hatchet.

"What you will have to decide is why he did so and what his state of mind was at the time. The prosecution say that this is a clear case of murder."

Virtosu was sharing a house with his brother Iurie Virtosu, his brother's partner Ms Mihalachi, and others, when arguments began to break out over chores, noise and money during the Covid lockdown.

The case is being held at the Old Bailey

When asked to move out, Virtosu refused, allegedly telling his brother: "I do what I want, no woman commands me, she's at fault, not me."

Ms Pattison said: "Svetlana became worried for her safety. She feared that the defendant would kill her. She was right.

"You see, this isn't the first time that the defendant has killed someone. On 20 September 2009 the defendant was convicted of unlawful killing his then wife, Anastasia Virtosu, by strangulation. The defendant's conviction for unlawful killing was known within the family."

The court heard the defendant also told his brother: "In the same way that I have killed my wife, I could easily kill yours too. It's not a big deal."

Ms Mihalachi's husband returned home from work and found her on the sofa with blood bubbling from her mouth and cuts to her head and hand, with a hatchet on the floor.

She died in hospital on 12 May last year.

'No truth'

Following his arrest, Virtosu claimed he had heard voices on the evening of 8 April warning him to "be careful".

He said he had argued with the victim and considered she was the devil with "shining red" eyes.

Ms Pattison told jurors that Virtosu had been assessed in 2009 after killing his wife and was found not to be suffering a psychotic illness then.

Since moving to the UK in 2016, the labourer had never reported to anyone he was seeing strange things or hearing voices, she said.

The prosecutor asserted there was "no truth" in his suggestion that he was suffering psychotic symptoms.

Virtosu has denied the charges against him and the trial continues.