City high-flyer who battered daughter to death thought she was possessed by the Devil; DREAM DAD CRAZED BY HORROR FILM.

Byline: By ADRIAN SHAW

A CITY boss unhinged by a horror film beat his beloved two-year-old daughter to death believing she was possessed by the Devil.

Screaming "Death!", "Bitch!" and "This bastard won't die!" millionaire Alberto Izaga smashed the head of toddler Yanire against the wooden floor of his apartment in front of his horrified wife Ligia.

High-flying Izaga was a loving dad who regarded Yanire as "the most precious treasure on earth", the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

But tragically he was suffering from an acute psychotic illness possibly triggered by the disturbing horror movie Bug which he and Ligia had watched days earlier.

The film, never released in Britain, was panned by critics for its "gross scenes of body mutilation". Insurance executive Izaga was ordered to be sent indefinitely to a psychiatric hospital.

Earlier he wept as his loyal wife, who is standing by him, said in a statement to the court: "Alberto was not himself. He loves us.

"It's impossible to believe this has happened. Yanire was our life. Everything we did was for her." Prosecutor Jonathan Rees said: "If ever a case deserved to be described as truly tragic this is it.

"How else can one describe a case in which an utterly devoted father kills a daughter he loves in front of his wife, the girl's mother?"

Judge Richard Hone told Izaga: "No sentence will compare with the sentence you will impose on yourself. I wish you and your wife the best possible future." Izaga, 36, was senior executive at Swiss Re and lived in a pounds 1million flat overlooking the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Rees said: "He was universally liked. Professionally, he was clever and driven. At home, he was a doting husband and father."

On June 3 he woke at 4.30am and began rambling incoherently and repeating the word "bug".

After hours of raving he plucked Yanire from her cot and battered her, shouting: "I know what I have to do. I have to kill her."

Distraught Ligia, 36, rang for help. When police arrived, Spanish-born Izaga's eyes were rolling.

Yanire died two days later from multiple skull fractures.

Defending, David Perry QC said Izaga told doctors he believed his wife and daughter were possessed by the Devil and capable of harm. He said: "Truly, he is to be pitied."

The court heard Izaga and his wife had sat through Bug in New York the previous month. The film they wanted to see was sold out.

Izaga had recently returned from Geneva where he had exhibited signs of stress. He complained he had not slept for 72 hours.

He was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

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CAPTION(S):

KILLED: Daughter Yanire in arms of her mum Ligia; DEVOTED: Executive Izaga was loving father and husband