‘Depraved’ killer who bludgeoned man in graveyard slaughtered kitten to feed ‘fantasy’
A psychopathic hammer attacker who bludgeoned a man in a graveyard to live out his ‘depraved fantasy’ of killing a stranger has been jailed for at least 28 years.
Erik Feld, 37, had a long-standing obsession with extreme violence before he killed Ranjith Kankanamalage in a premediated attack, the Old Bailey heard.
He fed his fixation by buying a kitten in order to kill it and binge-watching online ‘snuff films’ depicting men and women being murdered in similar attacks to the one he would later commit.
In the early hours of August 16, 2021, Feld hid in the shadows behind a monument in Tower Hamlets cemetery in east London before hitting Mr Kankanamalage 12 times in the face and head with a claw hammer.
The 50-year-old victim was found with catastrophic injuries by a member of the public on a path in cemetery park later the same morning.
In his trial, Feld concocted what the judge described as a preposterous ‘cock-and-bull’ story and launched a homophobic rant at the victim, who had an ex-wife and two children in Sri Lanka and an ex-civil partner in the UK.
He was found guilty of the ‘horrific and abhorrent’ murder in March and, on Wednesday, Mr Justice Bryan jailed him for life with a minimum term of 28 years.
The judge said Feld picked a ‘creepy and Gothic’ setting because it fitted in with his long-standing desire to kill a stranger with a hammer and Mr Kankanamalage had the ‘severe misfortune’ to cross his path.
Mr Justice Bryan told Feld his ‘selfish, callous, abhorrent actions carried out to fulfil your depraved fantasy’ had a devastating impact on Mr Kankanamalage’s loved ones.
The court heard Feld had 10 previous convictions for 18 offences between 2002 to August 19, 2021, including criminal damage, sex assault, battery and possession of an offensive weapon.
Among the offences: he had brandished an axe at passengers on the London Underground and sprayed black paint on his face and the word ‘kill’ on a Tube window.
Feld was arrested on August 20, 2021, as he was awaiting sentence for waving a claw hammer outside a Poundland store two days after the killing.
A search of his home in Tower Hamlets, east London, uncovered two mallets and a sledge hammer in a hallway cupboard, and a third mallet in a living-room cupboard.
He was re-arrested in January 2022 after his DNA was found on bloodstained nail clippings from the left hand of his victim and he was spotted on CCTV footage in the area of the cemetery.
In a fresh search of his flat, police found another hammer and a cut-throat razor by Feld’s pillow.
Prosecutor Paul Cavin KC read a series of victim impact statements, including one from the victim’s daughter, Hiruni, on behalf of herself, her mother and younger brother who watched the sentencing by video link from Sri Lanka.
She described him as a kind and friendly person with life-long love of learning and an ambition to qualify in accountancy.
Hiruni said: ‘He was a senior bank manager in Sri Lanka, a very accomplished athlete who won gold medals and completed two degrees in Sri Lanka as well as academic courses in the UK.’
He was hoping to apply to become a British citizen and resume his career in banking, she added: ‘Before his dream came true, he was brutally murdered.’
Former civil partner John Kennedy told how he met Mr Kankanamalage at the Hilton Hotel in Heathrow where the victim was working at the time.
He said the realisation of what happened to him ‘hit me like a ton of bricks’ and he was consumed be grief, depression and deep sadness.
Mr Kennedy said he also felt sad for Mr Kankanamalage’s family in Sri Lanka, saying: ‘This was such a cruel and cowardly attack on a gentle and kind man who was just chilling in the park.’
Defending, Andrew Morris highlighted Feld’s ‘severe personality disorder’.
The killer’s mother died when he was aged 11, he had no relationship with his father and grew up in an ‘abusive household’, Mr Morris said.
Feld stood with his arms crossed in the dock and made no reaction as he was sent down.
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