My pal stabbed our teacher to death in front of the whole class – I’ll never forget the chilling words he uttered to me
A CLASSMATE of a teen killer who stabbed his teacher to death has told of his pain ten years on.
Will Cornick was just 15-years-old when he used a 34cm blade to ambush his teacher, Ann Maguire, 61, in a horrific classroom attack on April 28, 2014.
Beloved Ms Maguire was a Spanish teacher working at the Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds for four decades when she was stabbed seven times and had her jugular vein severed in front of horrified pupils.
Cornick’s 2014 trial heard that he had been planning to murder his teacher and two others the day before the attack.
And on the morning of the murder, he took two knives to school, including one with a 21cm blade, as well as a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Ten years on from the brutal killing, former pal Zacc Capitano has revealed how the incident still haunts him and his classmates.
Speaking to The Sun, Zacc, now 25, told how he still remembers “absolutely everything” about the day of the murders – including the final words Will spoke to him.
He explained: “I used to play cards every morning with Will because he was in my homeroom class. We would always play together and this particular morning he didn’t want to play cards which I remember thinking was strange.
“I wondered why – and then he pulled out his iPad out of his bag and started playing on that instead.
“That was weird because we weren’t even allowed to be on our phones so for him to whip out an iPad it seemed ridiculous.
“I asked him about the iPad and he said: ‘I might need it later’. Then I asked him if we would play cards tomorrow and he said: ‘I won’t be here tomorrow’.
“I didn’t really think too much of that. I thought: ‘Oh maybe he’s going skiving’ – but he obviously knew in his head what he intended on doing that morning and that he wouldn’t be back in school after that.”
Zacc and Will then parted ways – with Zacc going to English class and Will heading to Ms Maguire’s Spanish class.
After the lesson, 6ft 2in Cornick returned to the classroom and stabbed the teacher in the neck and back seven times.
Mrs Maguire, who was just 5ft 2in tall, then ran from the room trying to escape. She screamed to a fellow teacher that she had been stabbed.
Another brave staff member then pushed Mrs Maguire into a room and blocked the door so Cornick could not get in.
Mrs Maguire passed out and despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead later that day.
BELOVED TEACHER
Ann Maguire was a Spanish teacher who had been working at the Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds for four decades.
The 61-year-old was described by her husband Don as a “beautiful, vivacious, caring, generous human being.”
The pair had met in 1972, with the couple going on to have daughters Emma and Kerry.
Ann was described by one of her students as “really caring…she sort of couldn’t do enough for people, she was just really lovely to everybody.”
Others said that the mum-of-two genuinely wanted to see her students succeed.
A memorial was held for her on 29 September 2014, with an Ann Maguire Arts Education fund set up in her name.
It is still not known why Cornick so irrationally hated kind-hearted Ms Maguire – who had been set to retire that summer after a 40-year career.
Cornick who had never been in trouble with the police, was a good student and had a 100 percent attendance record.
Zacc says he was aware of Cornick’s dislike for Ann because he had spoken openly about it, but he thought it was “normal dislike for a teacher”.
He explained: “I don’t think I’ve ever really come to terms with it – I’ve just gotten used to it. I knew Ms Maguire really well. She taught most of my family – including my parents.
“She was well liked. She was fair but strict. She was one of those teachers that wouldn’t let you get away with not doing your homework – but obviously it was for our own good.
“I mean, everyone has a dislike for a certain teacher when they’re young. When you’re young you might say ‘ oh I can’t stand that teacher’. Or even go as far as saying ‘I wish they were dead’. But you never actually think anyone would do that.
Who is William Cornick?
William Cornick was born on 26 June 26 1998.
While his parents were separated, Cornick was said to have been raised in a supportive and loving environment.
In court, Cornick was described as appearing on the surface to be “reserved but amicable, enthusiastic, and a conscientious” student at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds.
He was diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, meaning he would not be able to follow his dream of going into the army.
Two months before his 16th birthday, his “completely irrational” feelings of anger towards his Spanish teacher Ann Maguire began to intensify, his murder trial heard.
Cornick told fellow pupils that he wanted to kill Mrs Maguire after she gave him a detention and told him he could not drop Spanish, a later inquest was told.
Before the murder, he wrote to a friend telling him: “The one absolute f***ing b***h that deserves more than death more than pain torture and more than anything that we can understand.”
Psychologists described Cornick as having “a gross lack of empathy for his victim and a degree of callousness rarely seen in clinical practice”.
One consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist said they could not exclude the possibility that the teen would kill again.
“It was so blase what he did. He just walked in there and stabbed her multiple times and walked back out like it was nothing. It was unprovoked. He had a plan and he knew what he was going to do. It’s barbaric.”
Despite Zacc’s year having to sit their exams just a month later – their class came out with top results.
He explained: “It’s a massive, massive credit to the school. No one knows how to deal with this sort of thing.
“A lot of people criticised the school after what happened but they were brilliant. They provided all the support we needed.
“They did everything they possibly could in such a terrible situation and we still got the best results. We said we did it for Ms Maguire.”
Cornick was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years at Leeds Crown Court on 3 November 2014.
In 2015 the teen lost an appeal against his sentence.