Chilling footage shows abattoir workers calmly leaving after murdering men and laying out remains in macabre display
7 December 2022, 17:17 | Updated: 7 December 2022, 17:33
Shocking CCTV footage shows two abattoir workers calmly cleaning up and leaving a house after mutilating and murdering a former colleague and his visitor and laying out their remains in a grisly display.
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Ionut-Valentin Boboc and Jacob Bebe Chers were found guilty of murder on Wednesday, after tricking their way into their the Bristol home of Denzil McKenzie and killing him and Fahad Hossain Pramanik.
Boboc, 22, and Chers, 46, stabbed both Mr McKenzie and Mr Pramanik several times and laid them out in a "macabre" display in the house on September 21 last year.
Some of their injuries looked like the kind of cuts to dead animals that they might make in the abattoir.
Chilling CCTV shows men calmly leaving house and cleaning up after double murders in Bristol
The partially sliced up bodies lay exposed in the "house of horrors' as the murderers went out to try to cover their tracks.
The court heard how Boboc regularly borrowed money from Mr McKenzie, 56, sometimes in exchange for sexual favours - "tricking" his way in on the night of the killing.
Mr Pramanik, 27, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time on the night of the murders, jurors heard.
Mr McKenzie was stabbed 23 times, the most serious to his neck. Mr Pramanik was stabbed at least three times in the back and abdomen.
Prosecutor Kevin Dent KC said: "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."
The two murderers, whose job at the abattoir involved slicing open pigs to remove the intestines, then further mutilated their victims.
"Mr McKenzie's thigh had been cut open, and Mr Pramanik's body had been slashed across his stomach," Mr Dent added.
"The bodies had been arranged in a macabre display. One body was on the sofa and the other on the floor."
The court heard how police had recovered messages between Mr McKenzie and Boboc that showed he had lent the defendant money in return for sexual favours.
Boboc and Cher met up that night before going over to Mr McKenzie's house,
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 [Boboc] 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.
"On the night of the killings Boboc had messaged Mr McKenzie inviting himself over to his house.
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."
More footage shows the two men visiting a nature reserve, where they had thrown away items, while video from a car wash where Chers worked, shows him putting items in a bin and cleaning his car on the morning after the murders.
On leaving the house, they were seen carrying audio equipment, jewellery and electronics, which they had stolen.
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More footage showed the two men visiting Coombe Brook nature reserve, where it was later discovered they had discarded items, while video from a car wash where Chers worked shows him putting items in a bin and cleaning his car on the morning after the murders.
The two murderers will be sentenced on December 21.
DCI Almond of Avon and Somerset constabulary 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.”
