A school friend of a Leeds classroom killer who stabbed his teacher to death in front of terrified and stunned classmates has spoken out 10 years after the shocking incident. Will Cornick, then 15, pulled out a 13.5-inch blade and stabbed it seven times into Ann Maguire’s back and neck at Corpus Christi Catholic College on April 28, 2014.
The 61-year-old Spanish teacher, who had worked at the school for four decades, was murdered in front of a classroom full of stunned students. During the trial, the court heard that Cornick had planned to murder three teachers and so had brought two knives with him to school, including one with a blade 21cm long. He also took a bottle of Jack Daniels with him.
Zacc Capitano, who watched in horror as his former friend carried out the heinous attack, has now spoken about the trauma left on him following the murder, reports The Mirror. Zacc, now 25, still remembers “absolutely everything,” including the chilling words Cornick said before stabbing his teacher to death.
READ MORE Leeds man appears on Channel 4’s The Piano after council music lessons
He told The Sun: “I played cards every morning with Will because he was in my homeroom. We always played together and that morning he didn’t want to play cards, which I remember thinking was strange.
“I wondered why, then he took his iPad out of his bag and started playing on it. It was weird because we weren’t even allowed to use our phones, so for him to pull out an iPad seemed ridiculous. I asked him about the iPad and he said, “I might need it later.”
“Then I asked him if we would play cards tomorrow and he said, ‘I won’t be here tomorrow.’ I didn’t really think about it. I thought, ‘Oh, maybe he’s going skiing’ – but it’s obvious that he knew in his head what he intended to do that morning and that he wouldn’t go back. not at school after that.
Will left homeroom for Mrs. Maguire’s Spanish class while Zacc headed to English. Cornick returned to class after class and stabbed the teacher multiple times.
Ms Maguire ran from the room after the attack while shouting at a fellow teacher to tell him she had been stabbed. The professor intervened and heroically threw her into a room and restrained Cornick by barricading the door. However, despite attempts at resuscitation, she could not be saved and was pronounced dead later the same day.
