'Frenzied' killer Matthew Quesada guilty of cafe murder
A man who fatally stabbed a man in a cafe after he was asked if his crying daughter was "all right" has been found guilty of murder.
Matthew Quesada, 26, was convicted at the Old Bailey of killing Alan Smith in a "frenzied and wordless" attack.
Mr Smith, 63, was stabbed five times in the east London cafe as "revenge" for asking if everything was all right with the little girl.
Quesada's partner Maria Brigitte was found guilty of assisting an offender.
The court heard Mr Smith fell foul of Quesada at the BB Cafe in Leyton on 26 March last year.
Flights to Brazil
In response to the question about his daughter, Quesada replied: "What's it to do with you? Go away."
Mr Smith was "eager to avoid confrontation", the court heard, and so went with his partner, daughter and son-in-law to the nearby Roma Cafe.
Meanwhile, Quesada took his daughter home to his partner Maria Brigitte, and came back with a knife that he used to stab Mr Smith, without saying a word to him.
The defendant was found the next day, in a car with his mother Victoria Passley-Quesada, 54, having cut his hair.
He had his passport with him and details of flights to Brazil.
After being found guilty of assisting an offender, Quesada's partner Brigitte, 26, from Walthamstow, was warned she faced prison.
Members of Mr Smith's family whispered "yes" and broke down in tears as the verdicts were delivered.
Passley-Quesada, from Purley, south London, was cleared of assisting an offender.
Acting Det Ch Insp Steve Meechan said: "Alan Smith was a well-meaning man who simply wanted to inquire about a distressed child.
"He paid for his concerns with his life. Not happy with verbally abusing Mr Smith, Quesada went on to carry out a frenzied and unprovoked attack on a defenceless man.
"His actions have left a family grieving for a loving father who had simply left his home for a meal. We hope that today's result will bring them some comfort after everything they have had to go through."
Quesada and Brigitte will be sentenced on 13 July.