Teenager Pleads Guilty in Stabbing Death of American Tourist in London

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/world/europe/zakaria-bulhan-london-stabbing-american-tourist.html

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LONDON — A teenager suspected of fatally stabbing a Florida woman and injuring five other people in Central London last August pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday.

The attack immediately raised fears about terrorism. It occurred less than three weeks after a terrorist attack on a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, and less than two weeks after a mass shooting at a shopping mall in Munich.

But the man in London, Zakaria Bulhan, 19, who was detained at the scene, was found to have paranoid schizophrenia, a serious mental illness, and did not have any apparent political motivation.

“Bulhan’s actions caused an enormous amount of fear and distress, with initial concerns this incident may be linked to terrorism,” Detective Inspector Tony Lynes of the homicide and major crime command of the Metropolitan Police, said in a statement. “This was quickly found not to be the case, and we now know Bulhan was suffering a severe episode of mental health. He clearly poses an enormous risk to the general public, and I hope he can now get the help he needs.”

The crime occurred in Russell Square in Bloomsbury, a part of London known for its literary associations. It is home to the British Museum and the central buildings of the University of London.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, the police began receiving emergency calls about a man with a knife in Russell Square. They arrived within six minutes to find the American woman, Darlene Horton. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:06 p.m.

The police saw a man on Bedford Place, a street leading to the square, who matched witnesses’ descriptions of the assailant. According to the police account, when they ordered him to stop, he started screaming and running; when he refused to drop a knife he had in his hand, they used a stun gun to subdue him.

The man, later identified as Mr. Bulhan, was taken to St. Thomas’s Hospital for a head injury he suffered as he fell. He told the hospital staff that “he had been hearing voices and thought everyone was trying to get him,” according to the police account. “He said he was hiding, running and ducking behind walls and found a knife, possibly in a shop.”

Mr. Bulhan was interviewed later at a police station in the Lewisham section of Southeast London. He refused to take part in an identification lineup, but he told the officers, “It was definitely me.” He was charged with murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Ms. Horton, 64, a retired teacher, was in London to join her husband, Richard Wagner, a professor of psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee who was teaching at a summer program. The couple had planned to fly home to Florida the next day. They were walking in the square after dinner when Mr. Wagner “suddenly became aware of a commotion behind them,” according to the police.

“Bulhan rushed past, and Darlene said ‘ouch,’” the statement continued. “Darlene’s husband continued to watch Bulhan running in a haphazard manner, and suddenly noticed he had a knife. He shouted out to warn other members of the public and started chasing Bulhan before calling police. He then returned to his wife and found her collapsed on the pavement.” She had been stabbed in the chest.

Contacted by email on Monday, Mr. Wagner declined to comment.

Five other people were wounded in the attack: a 67-year-old British man, who was hospitalized for a week for a perforated bowel; a 23-year-old Australian woman, who shared a taxi with him to a hospital; a 59-year-old American man; a 40-year-old Australian man; and an 18-year-old Israeli woman.

Mr. Bulhan pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and five counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He faces up to life in prison. Sentencing proceedings began on Monday and were to continue on Tuesday.