Can Arslan, 52, is accused of killing Matthew Boorman, a father of three, in Gloucestershire last October. Arslan had filed Mr Boorman and other development residents who shared years of threats and was charged with harassment a week before the assassination. Image: The scene of the incident on Snowdonia Street at the time of the attack At a murder trial in Bristol court, jurors heard Burman, 43, and other neighbors in Walton Cardiff, Tucksbury, accused him of trying to evict him. Mr Burman, a contract manager, had returned from work when Arslan stabbed him, according to his wife, Sarah, who witnessed the alleged attack. She tried to pull Arslan away from her husband and suffered a deep wound in her thigh as a result, according to the court. Arslan treated the victim “like a piece of meat” In an earlier police interview, Ms Boorman said she had unlocked the front door for her husband around 5pm on October 5 and had seen Arslan pass in front of her kitchen window. At first she thought she was throwing punches, but then she realized she had a knife and mimicked the gun going down again and again in her husband’s face and neck. “He continued to stab Matthew as if he were an animal,” he said. Ms. Burman said she screamed at neighbors for help and Arslan stabbed her. “I wish I had hit [Arslan] “With something he either threw something or did something to distract him so Matthew had a chance to run,” he said. “Arslan treated Matthew as if he were a piece of meat, sat on top of him and lit a cigarette as if triumphant. “Then he threw the cigarette on the floor and got up casually and walked to the front garden as Matthew was dead on the floor.” He said the accused was “calm”, “he knew exactly what he was doing” and “he was waiting for Matthew, he had done what he had done to Matthew and he was happy with what he had done to Matthew”. Her eldest child had seen his father’s bloodied body through the window and “he can not get it out of his head,” he added. Image: Mr Boorman’s wife told the court that the accused lit a cigarette after stabbing her husband The residents were armed with golf clubs Jurors were told that after killing Burman, Arslan broke into another resident’s home and stabbed him eight times. Peter Marsden managed to fight him outside the property and the assailant walked to Mr Boorman’s house, where CPR instructors dragged him in case Arslan targeted him again. The residents armed themselves with golf clubs, bats and wooden boards and managed to hold Arslan until the police arrived. “He was threatening everyone and he was enjoying it, he liked his attention – he said he was going to kill us,” Ms Boorman said. According to another neighbor, Arslan’s wife, Louise, was “verbally aggressive” with police and threw a glass of water at them. Ms Boorman said the family had not used their backyard for more than a year due to constant threats from Arslan, who shouted at them that he knew where she and her husband worked and was filming the windows of their children’s bedrooms. Arslan counterattacked, accusing the Boormans of racist abuse. The day before the attack, the police had called Arslan for the complaint and told the policeman that he would settle his neighbor himself, adding that he would “kill” him, the court heard. Arslan admitted to attempting to assassinate Mr. Marsden, causing serious bodily harm to Ms. Burman, and was charged with assault, but claims he was in the hands of a psychiatric disorder. Kate Brunner QC, for the prosecution, said: “The prosecution says that this was a premeditated murder committed in retaliation and anger and this defendant is guilty of murder.” The trial, which is expected to last a week and a half, continues.
