A British horror film fan who wanted to be a famous serial killer was told today he will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of four strangers during a rampage through southern England.
Daniel Gonzalez (25) who was found guilty yesterday of the 2004 killing spree which he likened to murders in the film Halloween, was jailed with no prospect of release.
To applause and shouts of "bye" and "enjoy" from relatives of his victims, Judge Anne Goddard told him: "In my view this is a case where life should mean life."
London's Old Bailey court had heard how Gonzalez had set out on mission to kill as many people as possible, later telling doctors he went on the rampage because he was bored.
He said he had wanted to know what it would be like to be "Freddy Krueger for the day" - referring to the crazed killer from the A Nightmare on Elm Streetmovie.
Gonzalez, who also said he wanted to carry out a massacre similar to the 1999 killings at Columbine High School in the United States, began his murders on September 15th, 2004.
In the next three days he stabbed to death Marie Harding (73) as she was out walking in a secluded area; 46-year-old Kevin Molloy who had been out drinking in a pub and Derek Robinson (75) and his wife Jean (60) at their London home.
He also tried to cut the throat of a man out walking his dog and attacked another victim in his home, but they both managed to fight him off.
Gonzalez, the son of an English mother and a Spanish father, had denied murder, saying he was a schizophrenic and had been under the command of voices.
"You have brought unspeakable misery on the families of those you killed," Judge Goddard said.
"You chose to kill those you considered might be vulnerable."
During the trial, the court heard how Gonzalez, from Woking in Surrey, had said he had "just wanted to hurt someone". "I just thought about doing it, man - what would it be like just to be maybe Freddy Krueger or something like that, just for one day," he told police.
One doctor who examined him said he was the most dangerous patient he had ever seen while detectives called his murders "shocking and brutal".
"He wanted to be remembered as a famous serial killer, but I hope he is forgotten," said Detective Chief Inspector Dave Cobb.
Gonzalez even bragged about the case on a Web site that helps reunite schoolfriends, according to the Timesnewspaper.
Under the section titled 'What I'm Doing Now', he wrote: "I have been charged with four murders and attempted murder plus intent to commit ABH (actual bodily harm).
"Well at least you can all say you went to school with someone famous," his entry added. Under members' interests he put "Murder"; in the favourite sports section he wrote "Knife Throwing", and he listed his three favourite words as "Murder, Death and Kill".