Cheralee Armstrong said that she and her partner, James Henegan, drove past the scene of what appeared to be a road accident in Woolwich, South London, on May 22 this year.
Only when they stopped and stared at what was happening did they realise that a man was being repeatedly stabbed by two attackers as he lay on the pavement beside a crashed car.
Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of the killing and the court has been shown CCTV footage of them at the scene — the older man wearing a black hat and both carrying weapons including knives, a meat cleaver and a gun.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Fusilier Rigby, 25, conspiracy to murder a police officer and the attempted murder of a police officer.
Ms Armstrong, 38, said that when she saw what was happening she got out of her car and shouted “stop, stop”. She continued: “The man in the hat stared at me. His expression was blank but pure evil and his eyes were bulging.”
The man stood up from the body on the ground, walked to the car and took out two dirty green and white plastic bags. She added: “He got a gun from the bags and pointed it at me as he walked slowly back towards the body.
“The man didn’t say anything but continued to stare at us. I thought I was going to die, all I could think about was my kids and James.”
Miss Armstrong’s statement was read to a jury of eight women and four men on the second day of the trial. She said that when the couple came upon the scene they thought that the two men “huddled” over the body were trying to resuscitate someone who had been hit by a car.
It was only when she saw the knives in the hands of the killers that she grasped what was happening. One man “kept ramming two knives into the man on the floor with so much force. When the knives came up I could see the whole length of the blade was covered in blood.”
She added: “It was like they were mutilating the person’s body. It seemed like they were trying to remove his organs from his torso.”
Immediately after the attack she said that the killers threw Fusilier Rigby’s body into the middle of the road “like a bag of rubbish” and began “behaving like animals”. The man in the hat was “showing off” in front of people who were holding up cameraphones and “talking and chanting some words”.
The other man, who she described as having an Afro haircut, had a knife in his hand. Miss Armstrong said: “He looked mad, like he had escaped from a mental hospital.”
Mr Henegan, 39, giving evidence in court, said he thought that he was going to be shot when one of the men pulled a gun.
David Gottlieb, Mr Adebolajo’s defence counsel, told Mr Henegan that “there was nothing you could have done to change what happened”. As the witness wiped away a tear, Mr Gottlieb added: “My client is very, very anxious that you should know that.”
Evidence from witnesses described a bloody scene, which many thought was either a car accident or a gangland killing. Ibrahim Elidemir, a shopkeeper, said he called 999 and felt “very scared, very frightened”.
John Power, a taxi driver, described one man attacking the body with what he thought was “a small axe” as if he was “chopping a tree”. The man on the ground did not move and seemed to be curled up in the foetal position.
Amanda Bailey saw one man hacking with “a lot of force” at the soldier’s neck. She said: “It was broad daylight and this man didn’t care who was there.”
Witnesses also spoke of their own distress as the events unfolded in front of them. Gill Hucks talked of a “horrific, frenzied attack” and said that she became hysterical: “I’d almost lost control through screaming . . . I was shaking and very upset.” A passing woman motorist stopped and gave her a lift to her workplace nearby.
Siraj Miah, who saw Fusilier Rigby hit by the car before its occupants began their knife attack, said that he had been unable to sleep for two weeks afterwards.
The trial continues.
The Times
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