Two thugs guilty of involvement in the execution of a Montreal father in front of his wife and young children have been sentenced to 12 and 17 years in prison respectively, while the gunman has already been sentenced to life in prison.
“One of the children was asked to get on the floor. A neighbor heard the victim beg the attackers “not to do this.” After the victim was shot at close range, the accused fled. Two of them laughed,” Judge Mario Longpré commented Wednesday at the Gouin Judicial Center in Montreal.
Omar Araghoune and Gretzky Marcellus, 36 and 32, respectively, sat in the defendants’ box and were unaffected by this gory story, which dates back to September 16, 2019.
Photo from the Flawless Gretzky Facebook page.
Gretzky Marcellus, also known as “Flawless”, was convicted of manslaughter for his part in the execution of Osvaldo Pineda Melgar on September 16, 2019
executed
That day, the two thugs, along with 29-year-old Jeffrey Romel Nauzinor, broke into Osvaldo Pineda Melgar’s home, presumably over drug debt. And after getting the whole family into one room, Nauzinor brandished a firearm to shoot the 26-year-old victim with a bullet in the back of the head.
Archive photo
Police had erected a security fence around the apartment building where the murder took place.
After this violent murder, Nauzinor fled to Alberta. And during the police investigation, he was heard announcing that he wanted to leave Canada, even if it meant abandoning his child.
“The Pandemic [avec les interdictions de voyage] “failed his plan,” the judge noted.
The trio were eventually arrested. And at the end of their trial, Nauzinor was found guilty of first degree murder, which earned him a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Araghoune, described as the assassin’s “subordinate,” and Marcellus, a “gangster”-style rapper, had since been found guilty of manslaughter. Despite the violence of the attack, their history of violence and their unethical behavior in detention, they hoped to get away with nine and six years in prison, respectively.
traumatized family
But those verdicts will not bring back to life Mr Pineda Melgar, whose assassination left his family utterly traumatized. His partner, who described him as a “very present dad,” suffered from anxiety and depression. His daughter remains heartbroken and continues to ask for her father’s presence.
Archive photo
A tearful relative of the victim is comforted near the scene of the crime on rue Bédard in the LaSalle district in September 2019.
“The boy is unrecognizable, he’s not laughing anymore,” the judge stated.
Mr Pineda Melgar’s sister had also shared the pain she felt after the assassination.
Given preventive detention, Araghoune has just over seven years left to serve, while Marcellus will be free in just over 12 years.
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