Osman Shaptafaj appeal for lighter sentence rejected after murdering daughter and her husband
Angry father who killed his estranged daughter and her husband because they were married tries to have his sentence reduced
- Father asked for a reduced sentence
- He killed daughter and her husband
A man who brutally murdered his daughter and her husband at the couple’s inner-city Melbourne home has rejected his request for a lighter sentence.
Osman Shaptafaj was given two life sentences after pleading guilty to the murder of his daughter, Lindita Musai, 25, and her husband, Veton Musai, 29, in February last year, with a non-parole period of 35 years.
Shaptafaj carried out the murders after learning of his estranged daughter’s marriage and lurking in the couple’s home in Yarraville on the night of New Year’s Eve 2019.
Osman Shaptafaj was given two life sentences after pleading guilty to the murder of his daughter, Lindita Musai, 25, and her husband, Veton Musai, 29
Lindita and Veton Musai were murdered in 2019 by Ms. Musai’s father, Osman Shaptafaj, in Yarraville
When the pair returned home, he shot them both in the head before turning the gun on himself at a nearby park.
In the Court of Appeals, Shaptafaj’s lawyer Rishi Nathwani argued last week that his client had received the maximum sentence despite being entitled to a discount due to his plea, disabilities and the impact of a prison sentence during Covid-19.
Crown Prosecutor Diana Piekusis KC told the court at the same hearing that the killings were cold-blooded, premeditated and of a seriousness that outweighed mitigating factors.
Shaptafaj had become estranged from his family in 2011 and led an “isolated and lonely life” in Altona, according to Wednesday’s Court of Appeals ruling.
“It was clear from the circumstances of the case that the Petitioner harbored deep-seated anger and resentment toward Lindita and Veton,” Justices Priest, Kaye and Hargrave wrote Thursday.
Shaptafaj, then 55 and now 59, had become furious over the couple’s decision to get married in December 2018.
Lindita and Veton had spent the three nights before their deaths in a hotel in Melbourne’s CBD celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary.
On the morning of Dec. 31, the couple took an Uber back to their home on Salisbury St, where they lived with Veton’s family.
Shaptafaj waited outside a nearby house, having driven there himself earlier that morning with a loaded Smith and Wesson 38 caliber revolver.
As his daughter and her husband waited outside the front door after ringing the doorbell, Shaptafaj walked up behind them and fired the deadly shots at close range, before a family member of Veton opened the door to find Lindita and Veton lying on the porch.
Shaptafaj harbored a deep-seated anger towards the couple, the court was told