Botley ‘Hitman’ killer will appear in court this morning to be sentenced for stabbing his housemate to death in October 2021.
Eugen Coman, 35, was convicted in March of the manslaughter of housemate Leonid Laboshin, but cleared of his murder.
He fatally stabbed the Russian man in the kitchen of their shared home in Pinnocks Way, Botley, before wrapping his body in a blanket and dragging it into the garden.
By the time the police arrived, Coman was behind the wheel of his BMW. He drove first to a car park in Botley before a police helicopter tailed him as he continued his journey on to his brother’s house in Witney, where armed police swooped on his car.
At his trial, prosecutors suggested that there were two ‘competing motives’ for the killing: sexual jealousy of Mr Laboshin’s friendship with a female housemate or his ‘bizarre fantasy’ about being Agent 47, the antihero of the ‘Hitman’ series of video games and films.
Defence advocate Tana Adkin KC disagreed, telling the jury in her closing address: “This case is not about sexual jealousy. It’s not about love. It had everything to do [with] and is about the delusional beliefs that Eugen Coman had.”
Judge Ian Pringle KC will sentence Coman, who has been remanded to a psychiatric hospital, from 10am this morning.
It is anticipated the defendant, who accepted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, will receive a hospital order.
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