A ‘jealous and controlling’ truck driver who stabbed his ex-wife to death after seeing her blow a kiss to her lover in a TikTok video has been jailed for at least 18 years.
Stony Stoica, 44, married Beatrice Cenusa, 36, in Romania in 2009 but they divorced 10 years later due to his gambling addiction.
On July 21 last year, Ms Cenusa, an avid TikTok user with more than 17,000 followers, posted a video of her lip-syncing a song with Claudiu Miteatu in which they blew a kiss to each other at the end.
Inner London Crown Court heard Stoica flew into a rage when he saw it and demanded she take it down.
Two days later, he turned up at her home in East Dulwich, southeast London, and plunged a knife into her chest while their nine-year-old daughter was in the next room.
Jocelyn Ledward, prosecuting, told jurors: ‘There was long-standing sexual jealousy.
‘He had refused to allow his ex-wife to engage in relationships without his permission, threatening to kill her if she did such a thing.
‘She said she wasn’t interested in a relationship any longer and wanted her own romantic life.
‘When it was clear she had moved on and started a relationship with another man the defendant killed her.’
Stoica drove down to London from Humberside on July 23 last year, stopping for two-and-a-half hours at a service station casino to play the slots.
Shortly before the killing, Mr Miteatu had texted Ms Cenusa asking if she was ok because he was concerned about her welfare.
Ms Cenusa replied: ‘I’m fine. I wish I could kiss you. Leave it because it will pass.’
Stoica later messaged Ms Cenusa saying: ‘I’m at the door.’ Less than four minutes later, CCTV captured Stoica running away from his ex-wife’s flat in Lordship Lane.
A neighbour found Ms Cenusa lying in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife sticking out of her chest.
Jurors were told their daughter heard her mother screaming from her bedroom and was later guided through the blood-soaked hallway by police officers.
While lying on the floor, Ms Cenusa video called Mr Miteatu and told him: ‘Claudiu, he barged in and stabbed me.’
Jurors heard Mr Miteatu saw the knife in her chest and watched her pass out.
She was still breathing when paramedics arrived, though they were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead just after 2am.
Stoica, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to murder
Judge Usha Karu jailed him for life and ordered he serve at least 18 years before he can be released on parole.
She told him: ‘For a child to have to hear the screams of her mother as she is being stabbed is horrific. It is impossible to gauge the long-term damage caused.
‘There is no sensible explanation other than your controlling behaviour and that you were consumed by jealousy.
‘You must have intended to cause very serious harm. You left her with the knife plunged in her chest.’
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, who led the investigation, said: ‘Stoica’s attack was so vicious that Beatrice was discovered with the knife still embedded in her chest.
‘He is clearly an extremely dangerous man, and it is right that he will now spend a significant amount of his life in jail.
‘Not only did he kill a completely innocent woman, but he also had no regard for the fact their nine-year-old daughter was in the next room.
‘She will have to live with losing her mother in these traumatic circumstances for the rest of her life. Our thoughts today remain with her and the rest of Beatrice’s family.’
