Matthew Quesada

Case record: Matthew Quesada

Status and sentence

Matthew Quesada was sentenced to serve a minimum of 26 years in prison on July 13, 2012.

People

• Matthew Quesada (26): convicted of murder.
• Alan Smith (63): victim; retired bus driver; stabbed to death at a cafe.
• Estelle Smith: Alan Smith’s daughter; at the cafe during the attack.
• Mark Jenkins: Estelle’s husband; picked up a nearby chair during the attack.
• Denise Facey: Alan Smith’s long-term partner.
• Maria Brigette (26): Quesada’s girlfriend; convicted of assisting an offender.
• Victoria Passley-Quesada (54): Quesada’s mother; cleared of assisting an offender.
• Patrick Passley: Quesada’s uncle; boxer.
• Dr Samrat Sengupta: forensic psychiatrist.
• Judge Peter Rook QC: sentenced Quesada and passed sentence on Brigette.
• Prosecutor Roger Smart: described the attack in court.

Timeline

• March 26, 2011 — Matthew Quesada and Alan Smith initially clashed at the BB Cafe in Leyton, east London; Quesada later collected a knife and returned; Alan Smith was stabbed at the Roma Cafe in Lea Bridge Road.
• Following the attack — Quesada ran home by jumping over garden fences, burned his clothes, and shaved his hair; he researched flights at an internet cafe.
• The following day — Quesada was arrested in the passenger seat of his mother’s Nissan Micra, clutching his passport, a change of clothes, and a list of flights to Sao Paulo due to depart that evening from Heathrow.
• July 14, 2012 — Doctors performed open-heart surgery on Alan Smith at the cafe and he died in hospital later that afternoon (as described in the case summary text).
• July 13, 2012 — Quesada was ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years in prison.
• After conviction — Quesada’s conviction and the sentences involving Brigette and Passley-Quesada were addressed at sentencing by Judge Peter Rook QC (as described in the case summary text).

Background

Matthew Quesada developed an ‘unhealthy interest’ in the thriller trilogy and spent hours online researching combat moves used by star Matt Damon.

Quesada was obsessed with the Bourne spy trilogy for years. Patrick Passley said:

'He kept on going on about this Bourne Identity,'
'He just kept going on and on about it. 'That's when I first became concerned about his behaviour. He kept on saying the guy could defend himself and his family. The way he was going on about it was unhealthy. Afterwards, all the time I knew him he kept going on about it.'

Patrick Passley said Quesada used to ‘rant under his own breath’ about people disrespecting his family and in one incident slashed his chest with a kitchen knife in front of his partner and young child.

Quesada told Patrick Passley:

'I want to be in a position I can do that and do all the combat moves and take a knife off somebody. Anybody attacks me, I will be able to sort him out.'

Patrick Passley said Quesada ‘bottled out’ of calling police because he feared his nephew would be sectioned.

After his arrest, Quesada told psychiatrists he believed Mr Smith was a paedophile.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Samrat Sengupta said:

'paranoid illnesses'

Brigette claimed she had no idea about the killing—or about Quesada’s stash of weapons—until their home was raided by police.

Passley-Quesada said she thought her son might have been in trouble with a local gang when he came to her for help.

The offence

Matthew Quesada stabbed Alan Smith to death inside a Leyton cafe after Smith asked if Quesada’s three year-old daughter was OK.

Alan Smith and Quesada initially clashed at the BB Cafe in Leyton, east London, on the afternoon of March 26. Smith, from nearby Walthamstow, and his wife had gone for a meal to celebrate their daughter Estelle’s birthday with her husband, Mark Jenkins.

When Alan Smith asked about Quesada’s weeping daughter, Quesada snapped:

'What’s it to you? What’s it got to f***ing do with you?'

After dropping his daughter off at home, Quesada collected a knife. By the time he returned, Smith and his family had moved on to the Roma Cafe in Lea Bridge Road.

At the Roma Cafe, prosecutor Roger Smart said:

'Matthew Quesada entered the cafe soon after the deceased and his family had sat down inside and, without a word, launched into a deadly attack upon Alan Smith - stabbing him to the head, and crucially, to the body.'
'During this frenzied and wordless attack, Quesada stabbed Mr Smith at least five times, causing fatal wounds.'

Estelle Smith said:

'We sat down, and the guy came in. I stood up and he lunged at my dad with a knife.'

She tried to put herself between her father and Quesada while her husband picked up a nearby chair to hit him with, but the fatal attack was over in seconds.

Denise Facey said:

'He was a lunatic,'
'Blood was just pouring and Alan’s head was bleeding - there was blood all over the floor.'
'The worst thing was that, when he left, he didn’t just go running - he stood at the door looking, with a smug look on his face.'

A post-mortem report showed the blade had pierced Alan Smith’s heart and both of his lungs.

Doctors performed open-heart surgery on a cafe table, but Alan Smith died in hospital later that afternoon.

Investigation and evidence

Following the attack, Quesada ran home by jumping over garden fences and burned his clothes.

Quesada’s mother helped him to shave off his hair and research flights at an internet cafe.

His girlfriend kept him updated on the whereabouts of police in the area by text message.

Quesada was arrested the following day in the passenger seat of his mother’s Nissan Micra, clutching his passport, a change of clothes, and a list of flights to Sao Paulo due to depart that evening from Heathrow.

As officers handcuffed him, Quesada said:

'Me and my mum were just working out how I was going to hand myself in.'

Detectives later found the murder weapon, wrapped in a blue plastic bag, hidden behind the base panel of a cooker at his home.

Two hunting knives, a sheath knife, pellet gun, pick-axe head, and crossbow were also found in his bedroom.

The charred remains of his clothing had been stuffed in a bag and placed in a cupboard.

Arrest

Quesada was arrested in the passenger seat of his mother’s Nissan Micra, as he was clutching his passport, a change of clothes, and a list of flights to Sao Paulo due to depart that evening from Heathrow.

Trial

Quesada denied murder.

Brigette denied assisting an offender.

Passley-Quesada denied assisting an offender.

Sentencing

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Rook QC told Quesada he was guilty of a ‘truly grave crime’. The judge said:

'Your totally unprovoked attack was carried out in front of his long-term partner, son-in-law, and daughter, as well as customers and staff.'
'Mr Smith did no more than get up and ask if the child was all right. Your reaction was wholly unexpected and wholly out of proportion.'
'You carried out a frenzied attack, lunging at him four or five times.'
'He had no chance to take any avoiding action, and nor did anybody else present have any chance to prevent the lethal attack.'
'This dreadful attack took less than a minute. During that minute, you took away from Mr Smith his most precious possession: life itself.'
'His partner, family, and friends have suffered a most terrible loss, and their lives will never be the same again. The toll upon his family has been, and will carry on being, massive.'

Judge Rook handed Brigette a nine-month jail term, suspended for two years, along with 200 hours of unpaid work. The judge added:

'You knew at the very least he had been involved in a very serious assault.'
'However, I accept that at that stage you did not appreciate that he had committed a murderous attack, and I also cannot say on the evidence before me that you knew he had a knife.'

Passley-Quesada was cleared of assisting an offender.

Outcome

Matthew Quesada was ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years in prison on July 13, 2012, for the murder of Alan Smith at the Roma Cafe in Lea Bridge Road in March 2011.

Other details

• Quesada was described as having previous convictions including assault, threatening behaviour, and criminal damage.
• Police believe Quesada was acting as if he was the spy when he plotted his escape, burning his clothes and shaving his hair.
• Quesada researched travelling to Brazil and had a list of 49 flights to Sao Paulo.
• Quesada’s address was described as Hibbert Road, Walthamstow.
• Brigette’s address and Quesada’s address were described as the same Walthamstow address.
• Passley-Quesada’s address was described as Lower Barn Road, Purley, south London.