In a horrific incident, a 28- year-old Bulgarian man decapitated a British woman and ran off with her head saying, “This is my treasure,” a media report said.
The suspect, with a history of mental illness, beheaded Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, while she was working at a supermarket on the British holiday island of Tenerife, The Sun reported.
The alleged killer, released from a mental hospital three months ago, then ran out into the streets, carrying the severed head and telling passers-by: “This is my treasure.”
According to eyewitnesses, the man, calling himself “God's Prophet,” picked up a large knife from a shelf in the store and stabbed his victim repeatedly without saying a word before hacking off her head.
Security guards gave a chase and he was caught when a passer-by felled him with a motorcycle helmet, causing the victim's head to roll down the pavement in front of horrified onlookers, the newspaper said.
He was taken into custody and was identified as Deyan Valentinov D., a homeless man who had carried out random attacks earlier on strangers and was released from a mental hospital in February, the report said.
Local mayor Joslberto Gonzalez Reveron was quoted by the British tabloid as saying: “He has a history of threatening passers-by and telling them he is the prophet of God. This is an atrocious crime, the worst that has happened here in recent years.”
