Laughing ‘killer’ told cops, ‘I warned you for one year I would murder him, look what happened’

This is the moment a grinning suspect arrested for knifing his neighbour to death with 27 blows over shared parking laughed when he learned the father-of-three had died before insisting he warned police a year earlier he had planned to murder him.

Can Arslan, 52, also told the officer pinning him down on a Gloucestershire street last October he was a ‘mother f***er’ with a bounty on his head, adding: ‘You are next – more people are going to die tonight’.

Bodycam footage shown to a jury also revealed that after laughing about stabbing Matthew Boorman, the alleged murderer complained his handcuffs were too uncomfortable, blaming his arthritis.

After chuckling, Arslan asks his arresting officer: ‘He is dead, isn’t he? I warned you, the police. One year. Look, it happened.’ He later adds: ‘I warned them I was going to murder him,’ before chuckling to himself again. He was against my son, my wife. Hahaha.’ 

When Arslan was being booked in for custody after his arrest, he repeated his claims to officers and said: ‘I told police I was going to murder him – I murdered him.’ 

Turkish national Arslan is on trial accused of murdering his neighbour by stabbing him 27 times on his front lawn amid a long-running feud that saw Arslan facing eviction from his home. He denies it on mental health grounds but admits  attempted murder, grievous bodily harm with intent and affray.

Bristol Crown Court heard yesterday he left Matthew’s body behind after having a ‘triumphant’ cigarette and wounding his wife Sarah Boorman to try and continue his killing spree.  

Yesterday horrific footage showing an off-duty police officer using a plank of wood and gold clubs in a bid to stop the knifeman from ‘massacring’ his neighbours was shown to jurors. He was then seen on camera being forced out of the home of another neighbour Peter Marsden, who he stabbed eight times. Cops eventually arrived to arrest him and he dropped the knife when a ‘red dot’ of a taser was pointed at him. 

And in footage shown to the jury – and released today by Gloucestershire Police – he is then seen laughing to himself about what he had done. 

He also claims to be ‘special forces’ and pleads with cops to put handcuffs around the front as he has arthritis. He is then heard threatening them again – calling them ‘motherf***ers’. He adds ‘There is a bounty on your head’ and repeatedly tells them ‘you are next.’ He is then locked into the back of the police car and driven away from the scene in Walton Cardiff near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. 

He also told cops: ‘I warned you people were going to die tonight. More people are going to die tonight. There are contracts on their head.

‘I told you I was going to murder him. I was a sniper in the army and I told him not to mess with me. I killed 50 people in the Kurdish army.’   

The attack in Walton Cardiff, a village near Tewkesbury, came the day after Arslan told police he would ‘murder’ Mr Boorman in a telephone conversation to discuss a complaint.

Arslan, who denies murder, waited for contracts manager Mr Boorman to return from his work at an engineering firm before stabbing him in the face, neck and stomach like ‘he was a piece of meat’, the court was told.

Jurors were shown distressing footage from doorbell cameras and CCTV in court yesterday, capturing the attempted ‘massacre’ at around 5pm on October 5 last year.

After stabbing Mr Boorman, the barefooted attacker ‘casually’ headed towards the house of another neighbour, Peter Marsden.

Off-duty police officer Steve Wilkinson trailed Arslan with a plank of wood and shouted at him to ‘put that f***ing knife down now’.

But Arslan barged his way into Mr Marsden’s back garden and walked into his kitchen, where he stabbed him eight times before the victim managed to force him out and lock the door.

The knifeman wanted to attack yet another neighbour, but residents wielding golf clubs and bats cornered him in the street until police arrived.

After stabbing Mr Boorman, Arslan sat on top of him and lit a cigarette ‘as if he was triumphant’, according to the victim’s wife and eyewitness Sarah Boorman, who ‘screamed’ at the neighbours to come and help.

Mrs Boorman told jurors: ‘Then he [Arslan] threw the cigarette on the floor and got up casually and walked around to the front garden as Matthew lay dying on the floor.’

She added: ‘I wish I had hit (Arslan) with something or thrown something or done something to distract him so Matthew had a chance to run.’

The couple’s eldest child saw his father’s bloodied body from the window. The widow said: ‘He can’t get it out of his head.’

Arslan was fuelled by ‘anger and revenge’ at fellow residents, who wanted to evict him due to his anti-social behaviour.

An ongoing dispute between Arslan and villagers had escalated from small rows over parking and a scratched car to the point where he faced eviction.

The Boormans and other nearby residents had suffered years of abuse from Arslan, including rape and murder threats.

Mrs Boorman had long feared an attack and said: ‘He’s always said he was going to murder us and rape me.’

She said the killer would laugh and say he would only get 10 years if he did.

In turn, Arslan, a Turkish national, made counter-allegations accusing the family of racially abusing him.

The day before the attack, Arslan warned a police officer that he would ‘murder’ Mr Boorman during a telephone conversation.

Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC said: ‘The prosecution say this was a premeditated killing carried out in retribution and anger and this defendant is guilty of murder.’

Arslan has admitted attempted murder, grievous bodily harm with intent and affray, but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The trial continues.