A hotel receptionist has been jailed for a minimum of 26 years for the murder of two young workmates, even though he claimed he did not know why he killed them.
Attila Ban, 32,
was given two life sentences at the Old Bailey on Friday after being found guilty of murdering fellow receptionists Tibor Vass and Alice Adams, both 20.
Both had been stabbed in Ban’s flat at the Heathrow hotel where they all worked in August last year.
Police were called after all three failed to turn up for work and Ban updated his Facebook wall saying: “I would like to wake up from this nightmare.”
Ban, who is Hungarian and was voted employee of the year in 2010 at the Radisson Edwardian hotel, was found after two days hiding under the bed where Vass’s body had lain.
After the bodies were removed, Ban cut his way out of the divan and attempted to kill himself.
Richard Whittam, QC, prosecuting, said: “It became apparent that he had been hiding in the divan base of the double bed.
“He must have been there throughout the attendance of the pathologist, the removal of the bodies and the examination of the scene by crime scene examiners.”
The mothers of both victims begged Ban to tell them what happened after he was found guilty of the murders last month.
But on Friday, Michael Birnbaum, QC, for Ban, said: “This remains a baffling case. The two people he killed were his friends.
“He killed them both for reasons which remain obscure. He genuinely cannot remember what triggered the killings.”
Doctors had suggested that the openly gay Ban may have harboured an infatuation for Vass, who may have been starting a relationship with Adams.
Judge Gerald Gordon told Ban he had killed “two decent, innocent 20 year olds”.
He said the victims had been killed “extremely violently” – Adams suffered 22 stab wounds and Vass was stabbed twice.
Judge Gordon added: “Exactly what happened will probably never be known. That creates an even greater burden for the two grieving families.”
He said it may have been a combination of Vass’s imminent departure to university and some sexual contact at an after-work party which drove Ban to kill.
Outside the court, Detective Inspector John Finch said police had not been negligent in not looking under the bed. “I would not want anyone to do anything differently in the future,” he said.