TWO former abattoir workers who tortured and mutilated their victims like “butchered pigs” have been found guilty of murder.
Jacob-Bebe Chers, 46, and Ionut-Valentin Boboc, 22, tricked their way into the home of their former workmate Denzil McKenzie, 56, who was with visitor Fahad Hossain Pramanik, 27, at the time.
BPMIonut-Valentin Boboc tricked his way into the home of former workmate Denzil McKenzie[/caption]
BPMJacob-Bebe Chers has also been found guilty of murder[/caption]
SWNSThe two men were seen on CCTV on their way back from their the victims address[/caption]
A court heard that over three hours the defendants had brutally stabbed both men in the sitting room.
Mr McKenzie had been stabbed 23 times and Mr Pramanik three times.
The jury was told their butchered remains were then “laid up” in a “macabre” display.
The prosecution argued the defendants then went on to dispose of evidence and tried to cover their tracks as the bodies lay undiscovered in the ‘house of horrors”.
Following a three-week trial at Bristol Crown Court both men were found guilty of murder and will be sentenced on December 21.
The two men, both Romanian nationals, visited the home of Mr McKenzie in Easton, Bristol, on the evening of September 11, 2021, the jury heard.
Boboc had borrowed money from Mr McKenzie on a regular basis, sometimes in return for sexual favours, and the prosecution said he “tricked” his way in on the night of the murders.
The jury was told the second victim, Mr Pramanik, was simply in the “wrong pace at the wrong time”.
Prosecutor Kevin Dent KC said once they were inside the defendants “jointly” inflicted multiple stab wounds.
Mr McKenzie had 23 knife wounds, including one to his neck, while Mr Pramanik had been stabbed at least three times in the back and abdomen.
Mr Dent said there was also evidence the pair had been tortured.
He told the court: “They left behind them a scene of horror, the dead and mutilated bodies of Denzil McKenzie and Fahad Pramanik were left in the sitting room.”
Mr Dent said they had stabbed repeatedly while they had been defending themselves, adding both bodies had been “further mutilated” after their deaths.
He added: “Mr McKenzie’s thigh had been cut open, and Mr Pramanik’s body had been slashed across his stomach.
“The bodies had been arranged in a macabre display. One body was on the sofa and the other on the floor.”
The court also heard how the pair had tried to cover up the killings.
They had tried to clear up the scene and had been caught on CCTV trying to dispose of evidence.
Chers can be seen driving his black Alfa Romeo car onto a grassy verge, in one clip, before emptying it of items and putting them into a bin nearby.
In another clip, Boboc was seen taking “items” from a car and dumping them in a bin.
The court also heard a call Boboc’s aunt Maria made to cops the day after the killings.
In a later interview with police she told them she had dialled 999 as her nephew had gone to her home “drunk, scared and bloodstained” and said he had killed something.
She told police she had laughed as she believed it to be a joke.
But she claimed she later discovered two people had been killed and that as far as she knew Boboc and Chers had “killed one each”.
According to her, Boboc claimed the man he killed had wanted to sexually abuse him.
Boboc and Chers were friends who worked together on the production line of an abattoir just outside of Bristol, the jury heard.
Part of their job involved cutting pigs open and making a long incision line down the stomach and then taking out the pig’s intestine.
The court was also shown CCTV footage of Boboc and Chers walking towards the address at 8.30pm on the night of the murders and then coming back the same way at around 11pm.
Footage of them on the return journey showed them carrying large items including audio equipment and amplifiers, among other valuables such as jewellery they had stolen while inside.
Mr Dent said that after spending a couple of hours together, they went to the house of a man they both knew, Denzil McKenzie.
Police recovered messages which showed Boboc had “repeatedly” borrowed money from Mr McKenzie, sometimes in return for sexual favours.
Mr Dent said: “We don’t know what brought Mr Pramanik to visit and it appears a terrible coincidence that he was at Mr McKenzie’s house on the day these two defendants arrived.
“Mr Pramanik really was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there is nothing to suggest he knew either of the defendants before he met them.
“The biggest insight into their relationship with Mr McKenzie comes from phone evidence.
“He (Bobic) was repeatedly asking for money and agreeing to sexual services (in exchange) but expressing he felt conflicted about this and making threats of violence to Mr McKenzie.”
Boboc had messaged Mr McKenzie inviting himself over to his house on the night of the killings.
Mr Dent added: “He said ‘I want to come to you to say goodbye and have a drink. We stay ten minutes and after I leave I want to say goodbye to you – and I want to give you something.
“We say he tricked his way into Mr McKenzie’s house through these messages.”
Boboc, from Hillfields, Bristol, had admitted the murder of Mr McKenzie but denied killing Mr Pramanik.
Chers, also from Hillfields, had denied both murders.
After the verdicts were read out, the Honorable Mrs Justice Cutts said: “I am not going to sentence you today – but on 21 December. You must understand after the jury verdict the sentence I must impose is one of life imprisonment.
“I must determine in the case of each of you, the minimum term you must serve before being eligible for parole. That is the decision I will make on 21 December. Meanwhile you will remain in custody.”
BPMThe killers carried out the gruesome killings at the home of Denzil McKenzie[/caption]
SWNSThe court heard how Fahad Pramanik had simply been in the ‘wrong pace at the wrong time’[/caption] Read More