SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
v.
MENHAZ ZAMAN
R E A S O N S F O R S E N T E N C E
R E M O T E P R O C E E D I N G S
BEFORE THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE M. FUERST on November 6, 2020 at NEWMARKET, Ontario
APPEARANCES:
P. Westgate Counsel for the Crown
A. Monaco Counsel for the Defendant
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REASONS FOR SENTENCE Pages 1 - 10
(Delivered Orally by Justice M. Fuerst)
The attached Reasons for Sentence have been reviewed and approved by Justice M. Fuerst prior to release.
Friday, November 6, 2020
R E A S O N S F O R S E N T E N C E
FUERST, J. (Orally):
Introduction
By July of 2019, 24-year-old Menhaz Zaman had been leading a double life for years. His family believed that he was attending an engineering program at York University and would graduate at the end of the month. In fact, he attended Seneca College for two semesters in 2014/2015, and then dropped out due to failing grades. Unknown to his family, instead of going to school, he spent his days at the mall, going to the gym, and gaming at home.
Rather than face the consequences of revelation of his lie to family members, he chose to eliminate those with whom he lived by brutally murdering them in the family home.
He pleaded guilty to second degree murder of his mother, and to first degree murder of each of his grandmother, sister, and father.
The Facts:
On July 28th, 2019, the Toronto Police Service received a call from a man in St. Paul, Minnesota. The caller advised that he had received a text message from his friend, Menhaz Zaman, in which the latter said,
I’ve just slaughtered my entire family and will most likely spend life in jail if I manage to survive. I hope I made you laugh at one point in another, I hope you remember the good times. I will miss you all.
Mr. Zaman sent his friend pictures of four people with blood on their necks. There was a bloody knife next to one of them. Mr. Zaman said that he was at home. He promised to turn himself in.
The Toronto Police Service tracked the IP address that Mr. Zaman used, to a Markham residential address. They provided this information to York Regional Police Service, which sent uniformed officers to the house.
On their arrival, the officers saw Mr. Zaman peer out from an upstairs window of the home. Eventually he came downstairs and opened the front door. The police detained him.
The officers searched the house. They found Mr. Zaman’s mother, grandmother, sister, and father, all deceased, on the upper floor of the home.
Mr. Zaman told the police that he murdered his mother, 50-year-old Momotaz Begum, first, in the master bedroom at about 3:00 p.m. on July 27th. He then planned and deliberated the murders of the rest of the family.
He murdered his grandmother, 70-year-old Firoza Begum, next, in the master bedroom around 4:00 p.m.
He then waited several hours for his sister, 21-year-old Malesa Zaman, to return home from work. He passed the time by napping and playing video games. He murdered his sister on her return home, at about 11:00 p.m. in the guest bedroom.
At about midnight, when his father, 59-year-old Moniruz Zaman, returned home from work, he murdered him in the sister’s bedroom.
In each case, the victim’s throat was cut.
Autopsies revealed that Mr. Zaman struck each victim on the head, likely with a crowbar. When they fell to the floor, he cut their throats.
Mr. Zaman wrote to his friend that he chose to kill his family members out of “cowardess” [sic], and that he did not want his parents to feel the shame of having a son like him.
Victim Impact Information
A Victim Impact Statement was submitted by three of Mr. Zaman’s cousins and “the rest of the family”. They describe their deceased relatives as a loving, vibrant, and ambitious family. These were parents who loved their children, and endured hardships to build a new life in Canada; a grandmother who did whatever she could to make her grandchildren happy; and a young woman who was “a shooting star” with high aspirations.
The surviving relatives feel traumatized, hurt, and betrayed by Mr. Zaman’s actions. He haunts their dreams and memories.
Malesa Zaman’s best friend provided a Victim Impact Statement in which she wrote that she has suffered chronic anxiety, panic attacks, and sleepless nights since the murder. Her heart aches from the loss of her friend, about whom she thinks every day.
The Circumstances of Mr. Zaman
Mr. Zaman is now 24 years old. He has no prior criminal record. He has been in custody since his arrest on July 28, 2019.
On his specific instructions, his lawyers provided no additional information to me about his background. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Mr. Zaman said that he was sorry, and apologized to anyone he negatively impacted.
The Governing Principles
First degree murder is the most serious offence known to our criminal law. The Criminal Code provides that it carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.
The offence of second degree murder also carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, but the Criminal Code requires that the sentencing judge fix the offender’s ineligibility period for parole at a minimum of 10 years up to a maximum of 25 years. In exercising his or her discretion as to the parole ineligibility period in a case of second degree murder, the sentencing judge must have regard, under section 745.4 of the Criminal Code to the character of the offender, the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, and the recommendation of the jury, if any.
As Mr. Zaman pleaded guilty, there is of course no jury recommendation to be considered in this case.
In a case of convictions for multiple murders, section 745.51(1) of the Criminal Code requires that the sentencing judge decide whether the parole ineligibility periods for each murder are to be served consecutively. The factors to be considered are the character of the offender, the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, and the recommendation of the jury, if any.
The Positions of the Parties
Crown and defence counsel jointly submit that for the second degree murder of his mother, Momotaz Begum, Mr. Zaman should be sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 15 years. For the first degree murder of his grandmother, Firoza Begum, he should be sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period should be served consecutively. For the first degree murder of his sister, Malesa Zaman, he should be sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period should be served concurrently. And for the first degree murder of his father, Moniruz Zaman, he should be sentenced to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period should be served concurrently.
In the result, his total parole ineligibility period would be 40 years.
Counsel also submit that there should be section 109 weapons prohibition orders and DNA orders on all counts.
This joint submission is the product of discussion between very experienced Crown and defence counsel over a period of months. Both Mr. Westgate and Ms. Monaco take the position that I have the jurisdiction to construct the total parole ineligibility period as they propose.
Analysis
Mr. Zaman’s murders of his parents, grandmother, and sister shocked those who knew the family, as well as members of the Markham community, and members of the community at large.
Words such as brutal, cruel, cold, and callous do not begin to convey the enormity of his violence. It is difficult to imagine a more horrific way to take a human life than by slitting the victim’s throat. Mr. Zaman did so not just once, but four separate times over a span of hours. It is entirely apt to refer to what occurred in that house as a slaughter.
The betrayal of trust involved in these crimes is enormous. Mr. Zaman executed four unsuspecting family members in their own home. It defies understanding that while his mother and grandmother lay upstairs in their own blood, Mr. Zaman played video games and napped to pass the time, apparently untroubled, as he lay in wait to slay his sister and father in precisely the same manner.
No right-thinking member of society would see any remote correlation between the imminent disclosure of the secret of Mr. Zaman’s non-attendance at school, and the vicious taking of the lives of the four people closest to him. That Mr. Zaman saw such a connection, and acted on it in the cold and calculating manner that he did, is deeply disturbing.
Notwithstanding that Mr. Zaman is a first offender who pleaded guilty, the construction of the parole ineligibility periods to total 40 years, as jointly suggested by Crown and defence counsel, is entirely appropriate having regard to the statutory factors I am required to consider.
It will be for the Parole Board to decide whether Mr. Zaman should be released from the penitentiary, even after the expiry of 40 years.
Conclusion
Mr. Zaman, please stand. I impose a sentence of life imprisonment on each count. The four sentences of life imprisonment will be served concurrently.
The sentences of life imprisonment began to run on July 28th, 2019.
I set the parole ineligibility as follows. For the second degree murder of your mother, Momotaz Begum, on count 1 there is no parole eligibility for 15 years. For the first degree murder of your grandmother, Firoza Begum, on count 2 there is no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period will be served consecutively to that on count 1. For the first degree murder of your sister, Malesa Zaman, on count 3 there is no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period will be served concurrently to the other periods. And for the first degree murder of your father, Moniruz Zaman, on count 4 there is no eligibility for parole for 25 years, which period will be served concurrently to the other periods.
The total parole ineligibility period is 40 years.
On all counts, I impose a section 109 (2)(a) weapons prohibition order for 10 years, and a section 109 (2)(b) order for life, and a DNA order.
Is there anything that needs to be clarified, Mr. Westgate?
MR. WESTGATE: No thank you, Your Honour.
THE COURT: Ms. Monaco?
MS. MONACO: No thank you, Your Honour.
THE COURT: The indictment will be endorsed accordingly. The paperwork will be prepared as quickly as we can this afternoon, and provided to the institution.
I wish to thank counsel who were involved in this case. I appreciate it was a very difficult matter for all, and I very much appreciate your professionalism in working together to bring it to this close.
That completes today’s proceedings. Thank you all.
MATTER CONCLUDED.