A crazed partygoer dressed as a clown has been convicted of murdering a British male model by beating him so viciously it was impossible to know which injury had killed him.
Bhekisani Matabiswana, 26, repeatedly punched and stomped on stranger Luke Harden, 36, in northwest England last year in an attack in the street that prosecutors said was “so sudden, quick and brutal” the professional model had “no chance to defend himself,” the Sun reported.
The Zimbabwe-born killer did not know his victim, but ran into him in the street as they both left the same Halloween party, where Matabiswana was dressed as a clown and his then-girlfriend, Natalie Chadwick, as Harley Quinn.
He tried to blame the model — who was staggering from being drunk and on ketamine — for touching his girlfriend’s face and then throwing the first punch.
But his trial was told there were no defensive wounds — and Harden was knocked to the ground and then savagely kicked and punched despite being in “no condition to fight,” prosecutors said.
Harden suffered catastrophic brain injuries, with a swollen skull, extensive facial bruising, fractured nose and jaw — injuries so extensive, it has been impossible to work out exactly which wound killed him, jurors were told.
Matabiswana initially told emergency services he found Harden collapsed in the street, something he later admitted was a lie.
He also claimed to have attempted CPR, even though witnesses confirmed he “played no part at all” as the model’s friend attempted to save him.
“He then made no effort to help Luke, instead choosing to contact his family and friends in a sordid and sinister bid to paint himself as the Good Samaritan who had simply come across an injured man on the pavement,” said Pete MacDonald of Lancashire Police.
Text messages later showed that the killer had bogusly claimed to have “beat someone up for trying to rape some girl” and planned to “make a run for it.”
Matabiswana was busted two days later at Manchester airport while trying to flee to South Africa.
He was found guilty of murder on Wednesday and will be sentenced Monday.
His ex-girlfriend, Chadwick, was also charged with murder, but found not guilty at an earlier trial.
Harden was a “respected” professional model “loved by everyone who met him,” his agency, Nemesis, said in a tribute.
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