A “jealous and angry” man who stabbed his partner more than 50 times in a “frenzied” attack has been found guilty of murder.

David Xavier, 38, attacked Andreia Guilherme with a kitchen knife at their home in Croydon, south London.

The Old Bailey heard on the night of the attack in December 2020, 30-year-old Ms Guilherme had sent messages to friends and family after a row had broken out between the pair when she tried to end their relationship.

Prosecutor Paul Raudnitz KC said Xavier has become “increasingly jealous and angry”.

She sent recordings of “heated” exchanges on Facebook Messenger, in which the defendant accused her in Portuguese of being a “woman of several men”.

The victim texted a cousin to say “he picked up a knife” and told the defendant’s sister: “David is crazy pointed a knife at me.”

Shortly before midnight she sent another audio recording to a friend in which she can be heard saying Xavier was “coming after me with a knife”.

The court heard it was the last communication the victim made, and soon after Xavier stabbed her to death.

‘Frenzied attack’

Mr Raudnitz told the court: “The attack was frenzied. Andreia Guilherme sustained over 50 stab wounds to the front and back of her body, some inflicted with sufficient force so as to damage her internal organs and leave knife marks on the bone and cartilage of her ribs.

“Amongst her injuries were cuts to her hand where she had tried to defend herself.”

Two minutes and 19 seconds after Ms Guilherme’s last communication, Xavier called his sister, who also lived in Croydon, and told her that she was dead.

She and her husband rushed to the defendant’s flat and found him covered in blood holding a knife with the victim lying lifeless on the bedroom floor.

Following the guilty verdict on Tuesday, Xavier was remanded into custody to be sentenced on Friday.

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