Accused’s escape attempt detailed in murder trial

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2019 (2313 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hours after police found Mustafa Peyawary dead inside a Killarney Avenue apartment, one of his accused killers was plotting his getaway from a nearby bedroom closet, jurors heard Tuesday.

Ahamad Ismail, 31, is one of four men on trial for first-degree murder in Peyawary’s 2017 beating death. As part of its case, the Crown submitted to court text messages from the hours following the slaying.

“Well, either the cops are brain-dead or you’re lucky,” Ismail’s girlfriend said in a text to him at 12:16 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2017 — two hours after Winnipeg police discovered Peyawary’s body and supposedly cleared the third-floor suite of suspects.

“Lucky babe!” Ismail replied in a text.

In a subsequent text, Ismail told his girlfriend: “My bro’s brother is coming to light a fire outside and create a commotion. Then I’m going to run, but that’s not going to be for a bit.”

“Still there?” Ismail’s girlfriend said in a text at 1:27 a.m. “I don’t get this. How have you been in a closet for three hours and not got caught or left?”

“Well, he’s going to come check around building, and if no cop cars, I told him make commotion at door to see if pigs run down from third floor,” Ismail replied. “If not, then there are no more pigs here and I am taking off.”

In a text sent to another number at 2:48 a.m., Ismail wrote he could hear police officers in the suite, discussing what to do with Peyawary’s body.

“What you think I should do?” the recipient of the text asked.

“Look, I need the li’l bro to stay and watch them leave,” Ismail responded.

Jurors have heard Ismail was arrested minutes later, after a police officer checking on something in the suite’s bedroom saw Ismail’s shoes in the closet.

“It turned out the shoes were attached to a human, that being Mr. Ismail,” Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jason Dee testified last week. “I pointed my firearm at (Ismail) and told him to get on the ground.”

Dee and his partner handcuffed Ismail and called for backup.

Jurors have heard police were called to the suite around 10 p.m., after a neighbour reported hearing “super loud” thumping sounds and a male screaming.

Police arrived to find Peyawary dead on the living room floor. His hands and feet had been bound with zip ties, and his head was covered with cloth and a plastic bag. 

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca