A computer repairman’s final hours before he was killed by a “fantasist” were captured on his hard drive and left undiscovered for almost two years, a court has heard.
Peter Fasoli, 57, was allegedly murdered by Jason Marshall, of Monega Road, East Ham, after he tricked his way into his home in January 2013.
Jurors were told that after terrorising and killing Mr Fasoli, Marshall, 28, set fire to the victim’s one-bedroom bungalow in Northolt, west London, in a cover-up attempt.
For nearly two years, Mr Fasoli’s death was put down to an accident until his family discovered footage on his computer hard drive.
Prosecutor Edward Brown QC told jurors at the Old Bailey the attack was “as shocking as it was determined”.
He warned that the video evidence showed the actual killing itself and said: “The issues in this case are such that you will need to watch what on any account is very disturbing evidence.”
The harrowing footage was recovered by Mr Fasoli’s nephew Christopher Murgatroyd who examined his uncle’s fire-damaged computer out of curiosity in November 2014.
Expecting to find his uncle’s research on his family tree, Mr Murgatroyd was horrified to find himself watching his violent death, jurors heard.
The court heard how Marshall, who denies murder, first got in contact with Mr Fasoli through gay social networking site Badoo in December 2012, inventing the persona of a policeman.
Mr Brown told jurors: “There is a telling feature of this case - whilst the defendant sought to tempt the deceased into thinking their encounter that night was to be sexual in nature, the sexual element of the night’s events played only a short part early on and soon was superseded by physical domination and then violence.”
At the time of Mr Fasoli’s death, an investigation concluded it was an accident and the fire was sparked by a faulty light which may have fallen onto his bed.
But Mr Brown said: “The fire was set by this defendant in an attempt to disguise what truly happened - and the defendant Jason Marshall very nearly succeeded in escaping justice.”
The trial continues.
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