The man suspected of murdering Barnaby Webber, Grace Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham on June 13 was a “polite churchgoer from a good family”, according to one of his neighbours. Valdo Amissão Mendes Calocane finished his degree at the University of Nottingham in August 2022, having earned a place as a mature student in 2019.
Calocane reportedly grew up in Haverfordwest in Wales, but was a Portuguese speaker. He attended the Calvary Church along with his Dad, a carer, his Mum, a nurse, and two younger siblings.
A neighbour of Calocane, 55-year-old Marlene Raymond, said: “I can picture the eldest boy now in his school uniform, he was very smart and handsome.
“He was very bright, all three children are – they are a nice family and have been lovely neighbours for years.
“I haven’t seen the oldest boy for some time – since he went away to college or uni.
“They are very clever, all of them are polite and intelligent children.”
A neighbour of a house that armed police raided on Tuesday said he knew it was Calocane depicted in the CCTV images.
Kamran Khan, 41, told the Mirror that the suspect would spend time at the house with a woman.
He said: “All the time he would just sit out the back with his top off, smoking and drinking.
“He was seeing a girl who used to live there and he’d spend a few days there, here and there. He was there quite a bit.
“I recognised him straight away when footage of him came out trying to get into the residential home.”
The University of Nottingham said it was “devastated” to learn that the man suspected of committing the grim murders was a former student.
This comes as the families of the victims of the horrendous attack attended a vigil in Nottingham city centre to remember the lives so cruelly taken.
Around 5,000 people gathered in the city’s Market Square to pay their respects to Grace Kumar, Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65.
Barnaby’s mum, Emma Webber, fought back tears as she told the crowd that the “monstrous individual” responsible for the killings “will not define us”.
She said: “I know he will receive the retribution that he deserves.
“However this evil person is just that. He is just a person.
“Please hold no hate that relates to any colour, sex or religion.”
The history student’s tearful brother and father stood behind Emma as she held a picture of him and said: “My beautiful, beautiful boy, you have mine, your dad and your brother’s heart forever.”
