Court dismisses appeals in brutal slaying of man in apartment

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This article was published 16/10/2022 (1106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s highest court has dismissed the appeals of four men convicted in the brutal slaying of a man in an Airbnb rental apartment in 2017.

A Court of King’s Bench jury convicted Ahamed Ismail, Aram Soroush and Damir Kulic of first-degree murder in November 2019 in the Aug. 13, 2017, beating and strangling death of Mustafa Peyawary, 29. Matthew Marjanovic was convicted of second-degree murder.

The automatic sentence for first-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. Marjanovic was sentenced in December that year to life without a chance of parole for 18 years the next month.

Manitoba Court of Appeal Justice Jennifer Pfuetzner dismissed the four men’s appeals of their convictions, and denied Marjanovic leave to appeal his sentence, in a written decision Oct. 12.

Soroush, Ismail and Kulic argued the court’s instructions to the jury weren’t sufficient. Kulic also argued he received ineffective legal representation, and raised whether expert evidence on blood spatter should have been admitted to the court.

Marjanovic did not submit evidence to the appeal court, but argued that the trial judge made incorrect findings of fact and erred in applying the law. He didn’t raise any argument to appeal his sentence as unfit, Pfuetzner wrote.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Chris Martin noted at Marjanovic’s sentencing that although the jury may not have been convinced he was present during the killing, he played an active role in what happened.

Pfuetzner was not convinced by any of the men’s legal arguments.

Peyawary was killed in the rented Killarney Avenue apartment minutes after he walked in the door just after 9:29 p.m. Aug. 13 in a beating that lasted about 15 minutes.

A neighbour called 911 at 9:52 p.m. after hearing screams and thumping noises coming from the suite, Pfuetzner wrote in her decision.

The neighbour testified she called for help about 10-15 minutes after the noises began. The noises continued for a few minutes after the emergency call.

When the police arrived at the apartment at 10:09 p.m., they discovered the bound and beaten body of the victim, Pfuetzner said.

“His wrists and ankles were tied with plastic zip ties and his head was covered with a sweater and then wrapped in plastic wrap,” Pfuetzner wrote. “The pathologist determined that the victim had been bound prior to his death and that the cause of death was blunt head trauma and strangulation.”

Police found cleaning supplies, zip ties, collapsible batons and stun batons in the apartment, along with significant amounts of blood on the floor and walls, Pfuetzner said.

Jurors heard during the trial that security footage captured Ismail, Soroush and Kulic in Calgary before they drove to Winnipeg to meet up with Marjanovic. Physical and forensic evidence, as well as surveillance footage and information on their phones, tied the men to the scene or the victim.

Police arrested Kulic in the apartment shortly after they arrived. Ismail was found hiding in a closet in the suite several hours later.

Marjanovic was arrested in January 2018 in Winnipeg; Soroush was arrested that same month in Vancouver.

Ismail testified he had driven to Winnipeg with Kulic and Soroush to expand his illegal cannabis business, claiming he only knew the victim by name and had only learned of a planned meeting with Peyawary the day he was killed. But jurors were told Ismail had the victim’s home address stored on his cell phone.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera