Greater Manchester Police released footage of the moment Michael Marler landed on the roof of a parked car after jumping 8m.
Greater Manchester Police released footage of the moment Michael Marler landed on the roof of a parked car after jumping 8m.
A drug addict who stabbed his girlfriend to death before leaping 8m from a window onto a car and attacking passers-by in a frenzy has been found guilty of her murder.
Michael Marler, 37, has admitted to stabbing Danielle Richardson, 24, in her face, neck and back in a Manchester city centre apartment while on a cocaine induced 'drugs spree', but denied that he intended to kill her.
Shocking footage captures the moment Marler bounced off a parked car, having plunged from a window before getting to his feet and attacking passers-by.
The frenzied rampage led one witness to describe Marler as 'the Incredible Hulk', after his ability to survive the fall and then continue attacking innocent bystanders.
A jury at Manchester Crown Court yesterday found Marler guilty of murder.
The drug abuser had been out to the cinema and shopping with Richardson in the evening of February 12 before returning to the apartment in Ancoats, where they were staying while her house was being redecorated.
The pair had both smoked cannabis and used a crack pipe to take cocaine before her death, the court heard.
Michael Marler admitted to stabbing his girlfriend but denied that he intended to kill her. A jury found him guilty of murder. Photo / GMP
The following morning, at about 7.30am, CCTV footage showed Marler landing on a car parked outside the flat after jumping 8m from a second-storey window.
Dripping in blood he tried to steal the car before hitting and kicking a number of vehicles, punching and biting a passer-by and attempting to get into another car, the court heard.
Police broke into the Shush apartments in Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter to find the flat spattered with blood and Richardson lying dead in the open plan living room and kitchen area with 15 stab wounds.
When Marler was quizzed by detectives about Richardson's murder he replied: 'This is all news to me. I do not even kill spiders - I put them outside. I like to think I am a nice person.'
It emerged the victim had been awarded £12,000 ($23,000) damages over a childhood abuse ordeal and had planned to use the money to renovate her home and build a future.
She paid the ultimate price when she and Marler booked into the flat for a Valentines weekend - only for them to buy enough drugs to fill up to 30 crack pipes.
The tragedy emerged at 7am on February 13 when a "raging man's voice" was heard coming from inside the flat and Marler was seen subsequently seen jumping out of the window.
Witness Benjamin Sheridan who was being dropped off for work by his mother and father said: "I looked up and saw a man standing in the window. I presumed he was calling out to someone outside but he then launched himself out of the window and landed in a heap on the top of my mum's car. He then tumbled off the car and onto the pavement and I could not believe he was standing up.
"I then saw him get into the front passenger side door and I believed he was trying to steal the car. At that point I grabbed my phone and dialled 999 to summon the police.
"He saying something similar to 'they are going to kill me, they are after me'. My dad was trying to get him away but I saw the man hit my mum in the face. He was absolutely covered in blood and very agitated.
"There was a big pool of blood on the windows on the building, one window was completely red with blood. I watched the male walking off but he was still agitated, I saw him attack a car and try to break the windows to get access. I noticed he had smash to window of one car. he was shirtless and was acting very aggressively."
Pedestrian Omar Abbas said: "I noticed the man covered in blood and tried walking away but he came running towards me and punched me with a lot of force, I was in shock at what had happened. He wanted me to hit him back, he kept saying 'hit me back' and kept getting closer and closer towards me.
"I told him to let me go and leave me alone but he kept coming closer so I somehow got him into a headlock and held him against a wall. He was saying something but I could not understand what he was going on about.
"He bit my right arm and I tried to get him into a tighter headlock but he then bit my left hand and ripped my skin. After that I just let go of him because I was in pain.
"He went towards cars again and was just hitting any cars that he could see that in traffic. He was restrained by police officers but they were struggling as he was quite strong.
"Police got one handcuff on him but even they were struggling so called for back up. I was physically helping them but there were about six officers restraining him in total. What he was doing made no sense to me, he appeared to be simply crazy."
Tests showed Marler had large amounts of cocaine in his system. Items found in the flat included a small metal drugs pipe and traces of cocaine in a bowl, on the living room floor and a plastic sealed bag inside a bin.
Yesterday, at Manchester Crown Court the father of six was convicted of murder after a jury took just 80 minutes to reach their verdict. He denied murder but admitted manslaughter. He is due to be sentenced today.
