A killer was branded the 'tenant' from hell before he murdered the man who tried to evict him. American national Chad Henderson used numerous excuses to avoid paying rent for months and became 'obsessed' with his tenancy rights.
As he stabbed the young dad, Henderson rhetorically ask: "Why are you here? Why are you doing that? You know you shouldn't be here." Prosecutor Peter Finnigan KC stated the landlady was actually 'pretty patient' with Henderson and said: "Things actually started going wrong almost from the start. He wanted time before he could pay.
Subsequent analysis of Henderson's phone revealed that at that time he was making internet searches for tenancy rights, but the landlady did not consider him to be a 'tenant' and demanded he leave by the end of the month. At the start of April someone from the charity Shelter became involved and tried to find Henderson somewhere else to live, while he also contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau and even the police.
He added: "His attitude had hardened and he wasn't going to leave without putting up resistance. This defendant was developing a siege mentality and he was prepared to withstand any attempt to force him out of the property by making preparations to defend it." The defendant called the police again and told them he had been 'assaulted' by Mr Burton putting his hand on him. He claimed: "I defended myself."
"Then he chose his preferred weapon. The decision to use that type of knife was deliberate and he stabbed Nathan Burton, perhaps in anger, four times."