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Murdered couple's grandchildren condemn 'vile' killer Murdered couple's grandchildren condemn 'vile' killer
(40 minutes later)
The granddaughter of an elderly couple savagely murdered in their home has said no sentence would ever be enough for their "vile" killer. The granddaughter of an elderly couple murdered in their home has said no sentence would ever be enough for their "vile" killer.
Lindsey Booth found her grandparents, Giuseppe and Caterina Massaro, dead on their bedroom floor in April last year. Giuseppe and Caterina Massaro, who moved to the UK from Naples in the 1960s, were attacked by Ireneusz Bartnowski, a 22-year-old Pole who was found guilty of two counts of murder and jailed for life at Wolverhampton crown court.
The couple, who moved to the UK from Naples in the 1960s, had been brutally attacked by Ireneusz Bartnowski, who denied the crime during a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. But the 22-year-old Polish man was found guilty of two counts of murder and jailed for life. Miss Booth's sister, Katie, 19, said: "Bartnowski was just lying through his teeth. He is just evil.
Booth, from Wolverhampton, said: "If he rots in there for the rest of his life, if I am honest, it is never going to bring them back and it will never be enough. "We just want him to feel what he put on our grandparents. That fear that he put into them in their last moments, we want him to feel that."
Their brother, Richard, 23, said the Massaros' relatives in England and Italy had been devastated and traumatised".
During the trial the court heard that Bartnowski, who was staying with his sister and brother-in-law next to the Massaros, was captured on CCTV as he took two televisions from the couple's home and drove away in their Peugeot car. He returned to the house twice more to steal from the property.
Granddaughter Lindsey Booth said: "If he rots in [prison] for the rest of his life, if I am honest, it is never going to bring them back and it will never be enough.
"Whether he got sentenced to death or sent into space or plunged into hell or to live in a raft in the middle of the ocean, it's never, ever going to bring them back.""Whether he got sentenced to death or sent into space or plunged into hell or to live in a raft in the middle of the ocean, it's never, ever going to bring them back."
Booth suffers daily flashbacks of the moment she discovered the bodies of her grandparents at their home. Booth, 24, said she suffered daily flashbacks of the moment she discovered the bodies. She said she sensed an "eeriness" as soon as she let herself and her mother into the house, prompting her to dial 999 before searching for her grandparents.
The 24-year-old said she sensed an "eeriness" in the house as soon as she let herself and her mother in, prompting her to dial 999 before searching the property for the Massaros. She was speaking to an emergency services operator when she opened the door to her grandparents' bedroom and saw them lying on the floor, having been stabbed and attacked with a claw hammer.
She was speaking to an emergency services operator when she opened the door to her grandparents' bedroom and saw them lying on the floor, having been stabbed and brutally attacked with a claw hammer. Recalling the discovery, she said: "I went there [the bedroom] and I didn't know if I was going to have to do any CPR, and I just touched them and they were just cold and I was like 'No, they have been killed. Get me the police here right now.'
Recalling the awful discovery, she said: "I went there [the bedroom] and I didn't know if I was going to have to do any CPR, and I just touched them and they were just cold and I was like 'No, they have been killed. Get me the police here right now.'
"Literally they were there within two minutes. I gave the ambulance person my postcode and walked down the stairs and out of the house and they had all pulled up."Literally they were there within two minutes. I gave the ambulance person my postcode and walked down the stairs and out of the house and they had all pulled up.
"It was very traumatising for me to have to see anything like that, and I think it is something that will always stay with me. "It was traumatising to see anything like that, and I think it is something that will always stay with me. I went into shock.
"At that moment I went into shock. You know if you have an accident and you can't feel your injuries yet? That's what it was like. "You know if you have an accident and you can't feel your injuries yet? That's what it was like. It's still a mental image in my head. I always think about going in and seeing what I saw."
"It's still a mental image in my head. I always think about going in and seeing what I saw." Booth, who sat through Bartnowski's denials in court, said: "I think he is a vile human being – if you can call him a human being – because not only has he killed two people, but he can't even admit it.
Booth, who sat through Bartnowski's denials in the courtroom, said of the killer: "I think he is a vile human being – if you can call him a human being – because not only has he killed two people, but he can't even admit it. "He is a liar. He has got up on the stand and blatantly lied in court, under oath."We're just glad that he is going to lose a huge portion of his youth, based on his own actions … It's his own fault.
"He is a liar. He has got up on the stand and blatantly lied in court, under oath. We're just glad that he is going to lose a huge portion of his youth, based on his own actions. It's his own fault." I hope what he did torments him."
She added: "If I am honest, I actually hope what he did torments him."
Booth's sister, Katie, 19, said: "Bartnowski was just lying through his teeth. He is just evil.
"We just want him to feel what he put on our grandparents. That fear that he put into them in their last moments, we want him to feel that."
Their brother, Richard, 23, said the Massaros' relatives in England and Italy had been "devastated and traumatised".
He said: "Once we found out it was just utterly devastating. What had happened and how it happened and the injuries that occurred. It was really difficult.
"He [Bartnowski] has no care, emotion, remorse for what he has done. We have seen him in the witness box, we have seen him in the dock, and he has been arrogant and cocky in what he is saying."
The grandchildren, who described Mr and Mrs Massaro as caring, thoughtful and happy, said they have conflicting opinions about capital punishment.
Rosa Corella, 29, one of the couple's seven grandchildren, said: "I believe that the death penalty should come back for people like that, for murders and stuff like that."
Lindsey Booth said: "I don't believe that we should take a life. I don't believe that anybody should take anyone's life."
Katie added: "I feel like that's the easy way out if he got killed … I would rather him live with what he has done every day than just take the easy way out."