Abattoir pair sentenced to life for double Bristol murder
Neither Ionut-Valentin Boboc nor Jacob-Bebe Chers have explained their actions
Two men, found guilty of a double murder in Bristol, have been sentenced to life in prison, each with minimum terms of nearly 40 years.
Ionut-Valentin Boboc (22) and Iacob-Bebe Chers (46), both from Hillfields and both former workers at an abattoir, were found guilty of fatally stabbing Denzil McKenzie and Fahad Hossain Pramanik at a house in Bristol on September 11 last year, after a month long trial at Bristol Crown Court.
They will serve minimum terms of 37 and a half and 39 years behind bars respectively.
It was alleged the pair planned to kill McKenzie (56), who was a former work mate of Boboc and tricked their way into his home before the attack, while Pramanik (27) who was visiting McKenzie, was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Boboc had previously admitted the murder of McKenzie but denied murdering Pramanik, while Chers denied both charges.
During the trial the court heard McKenzie had been lending money to Boboc but wanted sexual favours in return.
It was alleged Boboc had accepted this arrangement but had set several boundaries and had warned McKenzie that he would be killed if he went too far.
Despite this, neither Boboc nor Chers have offered an explanation for their actions to date.
In victim impact statements read out during the sentencing, Denzil's daughters Cassie (17) and Shakira (23), described their dad as "peaceful", "gentle" and "kind-hearted", also saying he was known to the family as "Chef" because of his love of cooking.
Learning the details of how Chef was murdered, Shakira said, has left the whole family "devastated", "broken" and "traumatised".
Speaking on behalf of the Pramanik's, a statement written by Fahad's sister described him as "fun", "loving" and "kind".
Having grown up in Bangladesh, we heard how Fahad had travelled to the UK with dreams of becoming a lawyer.
Members of his family, his sister said, had sold property to help pay for his education and after travelling to the UK, Fahad became the main earner for the family, regularly sending money back to Bangladesh.
His death, his sister said, had caused "a great deal of financial distress...as we were so dependent on him.
"You have taken away a very kind and loving brother, son and friend who was so precious to us," she wrote to the killers directly.
"You have destroyed the lives of my family in every way possible.”
The police reaction
Senior Investigating Officer DCI Mark Almond described the murders as "sadistic, senseless and cruel".
DCI Almond said: “This has been a highly distressing investigation, especially for the families of Denzil and Fahad, who’ve had to endure the terrible ordeal of hearing how their loved ones were murdered.
"Family liaison officers have been supporting them throughout and our thoughts are with them as they continue to come to terms with their loss.
“The offences carried out by these defendants were sadistic, senseless and cruel.
"They’ve shown no remorse for their actions and have put the families of the victims through further torment as a result.
“While we may never know why these defendants chose to murder two innocent men, it remains abundantly clear they both have a dangerous propensity for violence and cruelty, and our communities are a safer place with them behind bars.”
Once the victims were discovered it was found McKenzie had been stabbed 23 times, while the bodies of both he and Pramanik had been left in a kind of gruesome display in the home's sitting room, with Pramanik's body disembowelled.
During the investigation, detectives collated hundreds of hours of CCTV and visual material, including footage showing the two men walking to and from the house in Wood Street on the night of the murders.
On leaving the house they were seen carrying audio equipment, jewellery and electronics, which they’d stolen from inside.
Further footage showed the two men visiting Coombe Brook nature reserve, where it was later discovered they had discarded items, while video evidence from a car wash where Chers worked, showed him putting items in a bin and cleaning his car on the morning after the murders.