Bulgarian Man On Trial For Beheading British Grandmother

Deyan Valentinov Deyanov went on trial Monday accused of decapitating a British grandmother in a store on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife and then running out with her severed head. The accused pleaded not guilty to repeatedly stabbing and then beheading Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, with a knife at a Chinese general goods store in May 2011.

Witnesses said they saw Deyanov leave the store with the woman’s bloodied head in his hand, which he then threw on the pavement, reportedly shouting “God is on Earth”. Police arrested him as he was struggling with a security guard and trying to escape.

Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 20 years in a mental asylum for the 29-year-old, who has chronic paranoid schizophrenia, as well as a payment of 200,000 euros ($267,000) to the victim’s family.