Who was John Mansfield who senselessly murdered his neighbour? | Manchester News

John Mansfield was the same age as the woman he killed 19 years earlier when he died in prison earlier this month.

Back in 2006, in Whalley Range, Manchester he subjected his then-neighbour, 63-year-old Ann Alfanso, to a sustained and ferocious knife attack.

The only potential motive police were able to identify was the chance to steal a handful of loose change from Ms Alfanso’s home.

Mansfield, 63, had a history of violence against other prisoners and was housed in the close supervision centre (CSC) at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire when he died.

According to the prison watchdog, CSCs represent the “deepest form of custody in the country” designed to hold the “most dangerous” prisoners in the system.

Many held in CSCs were guilty of repeated attacks on fellow inmates.

Cambridgeshire Police have since confirmed a head injury as the cause of Mansfield’s death and said a 44-year-old man – a fellow prisoner – remained under investigation on suspicion of murder.

On 14 August 2006, Mansfield had already racked up more than 70 convictions.

But he saved his most serious crime for Ms Alfanso, his neighbour on May Road, who had limited mobility and received support from a carer.

That day, her carer called round as usual and found a horrific crime scene.

A post-mortem would later conclude that Ms Alfanso was stabbed about 20 times in the head and neck, and had a total of 97 injuries on her body including wounds, cuts and bruises.

Mansfield pleaded guilty to murder at Manchester Crown Court, meaning some of the more detailed evidence that may have emerged during a trial was not aired in public.

But Greater Manchester Police said at the time that the killer repeatedly claimed he could not remember attacking Ms Alfanso.

Det Insp Steve Eckersley said Mansfield knew his victim could not move very quickly and was an “easy target”.

He said Mansfield admitted that he used to talk to Ms Alfanso, and would even do some shopping for her occasionally.

“We will never know or understand what made him turn from a seemingly helpful neighbour into a savage killer that day,” the detective said.

“It would appear the only thing Mansfield got out of murdering Ann was a pocketful of small change.

“His actions that day were totally senseless and inhuman, but he knew exactly what he was doing.”

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years for Ms Alfanso’s murder on 21 May 2007.

Mansfield, however, had not committed his final criminal offence.

In 2011 he was convicted of wounding a fellow prisoner at HMP Manchester with a chair leg.

Then in 2014, he was handed a second life sentence for slashing a fellow prisoner seven times with a broken dinner plate at HMP Full Sutton in York.

According to local media reports from the time, Mansfield told his victim: “I have a present for you,” before launching the attack.

He was cleared of attempted murder after a trial at Hull Crown Court but convicted of wounding with intent.

Mansfield was pronounced dead at Whitemoor prison at 16:27 BST on 13 April.

The prison service said it would be inappropriate to comment while an investigation was underway.

It added that as with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman would also investigate.