On 4 September 2014, 82-year-old Palmira Silva was beheaded in her back garden in Edmonton, London, by 25-year-old Nicholas Salvador, who was on a rampage. Friends of Salvador had recently noticed odd behaviour by him, including drug and alcohol abuse and an obsession with videos of beheadings. Psychiatrists found evidence that Salvador had paranoid schizophrenia. On 23 June 2015, he was found not guilty of murder on basis of insanity, and was detained indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital.

Victim

Palmira Silva, aged 82, emigrated to London in the 1950s from

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

with her husband Domenico, and was a widow. She was the proprietor of a café, and a great-grandmother with two children, six grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Her daughter, Celestina, claimed that her mother wished to stay in Edmonton although "the area was changing". Silva's funeral was held on 24 September. Her granddaughter Christina ran the

2015 London Marathon The 2015 London Marathon was the 35th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 26 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Ethiopian Tigist Tufa. Th ...

to raise money for Victim Support.

Perpetrator

Nicholas Salvador, aged 25 at the time of the killing, was staying with friends three doors from Silva's house. He is an only child who came to the United Kingdom from Nigeria with his parents in his early teenage years. After finishing a college course in Media, he had spells as manual labourer, losing his job as a billboard paster three days before the killing due to concerns surrounding his behaviour. He was active in cage fighting, and known as "Fat Nick" for his stature. Acquaintances said that he had issues with drug and alcohol abuse, and was a drug dealer. His friends told the police that Salvador used cocaine and skunk cannabis, and would drink a bottle of whisky or

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

per day. Contacts also revealed that he was obsessed with watching videos of beheadings and searching the Internet for

Jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

ist material. He was also obsessed with the idea of

shapeshifters In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

Religion controversy

According to different witnesses, Salvador is either from a Muslim background, or a convert to the religion five years beforehand. His former employer, who claimed Salvador to be a convert, said that he never discussed religion or politics. According to others, Salvador converted from Islam to Buddhism in 2014. Public speculation linked the killing to the recent beheadings of two

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journalists by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The day following the killing, tabloid ''The Sun'' ran the front-page headline "'Muslim convert' beheads woman in garden", which received a mixed reception from the public due to the conflicting accounts of Salvador's beliefs or motive. Head of PR Dylan Sharpe defended his newspaper's printing of the headline, on the basis that other publications were also reporting on the murder with similar headlines.

Attack

Two hours before the killing, Salvador ate at a café and left without paying. A staff member, who followed him out and successfully got him to pay, noted that "he seemed a bit depressed or upset about something". Shirtless, and armed with a knife and a broom handle, Salvador began to rampage, knocking down his neighbours' fences and beheading two cats. He broke into Silva's garden and she walked up to him, then he beheaded her. Police evacuated children in the area, and an officer gave the order "He's agitated and lethal... he needs taking out". After the police cornered Salvador, they struggled to arrest him, with one officer being assaulted by him. He had to be tasered six times. Salvador's rampage lasted for 45 minutes.

Trial

Following Salvador's arrest, the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

reacted to speculation by stating that there were no links between his rampage and terrorism. He was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, where psychiatrists found him to have paranoid schizophrenia. Salvador believed Silva to be a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or a shapeshifting demon, and admitted to her killing. He was tried at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, where a 14-minute recording of his rampage was shown. On medical reports, he was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, but ordered to remain indefinitely in Broadmoor. The judge, Recorder of London Nicholas Hilliard, concluded:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Palmira 2014 crimes in the United Kingdom 2014 in London 2010s trials Attacks in the United Kingdom in 2014 2010s crimes in London Deaths by decapitation Deaths by stabbing in London Deaths by person in London Edmonton, London Italian people murdered abroad History of mental health in the United Kingdom Murder in London People with schizophrenia September 2014 crimes in Europe September 2014 events in the United Kingdom Stabbing attacks in 2014 Stabbing attacks in England Trials in London