Three accused in Chicken Land slaying guilty of murder, attempted murder
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Published Jun 20, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
Guilty on all charges.
There’s nothing that will bring Naim Akl back to his family but three accused in his heinous, ISIS-inspired slaying being convicted of first-degree murder was a start.
A jury in a Brampton courthouse took less than one full day to find the three defendants guilty of Akl’s slaying on May 29, 2021, at his family’s famous Chicken Land restaurant while also coming in with guilty verdicts for attempted murder of his mom, dad, sister, brother and an employee.
“This was an incredibly violent incident which carried tragic outcomes for innocent people, their families and our community,” Peel Regional Police deputy chief Nick Milinovich said. “As a result of the commitment and professionalism of our investigators and Crown attorneys, the people responsible have been held accountable.
“Hopefully, this brings closure and comfort to the innocent people still struggling to heal from it.”
The collective fate of Anand Nath, 24, Suliman Raza, 28, and Naqash Abassi, 34, all charged with one count of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder, was in the hands of 12 men and women who have sat through three weeks of difficult testimony surrounding this dark crime that shocked the Erin Mills neighbourhood.
This was one disturbing case.
For more than 30 years, Chicken Land had been a popular takeout place run by a beloved family at Glen Erin Dr. and The Collegeway in the heart of Mississauga.
In an instant, that local treasure became a bloody homicide scene.
The motive? The Crown successfully argued this was an ISIS-inspired attack toward a family out of fear the son they converted to a radical form of Islam had found they had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group and was going to tell authorities.
Naim, 25, was struck twice by gunfire and killed. His father Jihad, mother Rania, 56, brother Daniel, 22, and an employee, Rohullah Rawi, were all hit by 9mm shells, while sister Sandra, 13, was shot at but the bullet missed her.
A masked gunman wearing a hoodie did a lot of damage over 18 seconds to the small storefront in the Esso gas station plaza, which also houses a Domino’s Pizza and a convenience store. Fleeing by getting into the trunk of a getaway car, the killers left a community in shock and a family shattered.
Peel Regional Police’s legendary homicide squad went to work and within weeks arrested three men who were working in an online fulfilment business near the airport and alleged a conspiracy that would see them take out this family for fear that Naim, who they had converted from his Druze religion at birth into Islam, would squeal that they had pledged allegiance to ISIS and were working with the banned-in-Canada terror organization.
They all pleaded not guilty and mounted a beyond-reasonable-doubt-type defence.
The jury heard about this group’s business, its dedication to a fundamentalist form of Islam and a star witness from within their pack who alleged the conspiracy and named names. But the defence made assertions that this witness was comprised, had credibility issues and could not offer smoking gun-style evidence that would make it easy for a jury to convict.
The jury was presented with a strong case by Peel police, which included evidence from cellphones, surveillance cameras, computers and insider witnesses.
It was a very professionally run trial by Justice David Harris, featuring great lawyering by counsellors for the Crown Brian McGuire, David D’Iorio and Madeline Lisus, while for the defence Kendra Stanyon representing Nath, Susan Pennypacker on behalf of Raza and Elliott Willschick for Abbasi.
Everybody did their job. In the end, so did the jury.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Published Jun 20, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
Guilty on all charges.
There’s nothing that will bring Naim Akl back to his family but three accused in his heinous, ISIS-inspired slaying being convicted of first-degree murder was a start.
A jury in a Brampton courthouse took less than one full day to find the three defendants guilty of Akl’s slaying on May 29, 2021, at his family’s famous Chicken Land restaurant while also coming in with guilty verdicts for attempted murder of his mom, dad, sister, brother and an employee.
“This was an incredibly violent incident which carried tragic outcomes for innocent people, their families and our community,” Peel Regional Police deputy chief Nick Milinovich said. “As a result of the commitment and professionalism of our investigators and Crown attorneys, the people responsible have been held accountable.
“Hopefully, this brings closure and comfort to the innocent people still struggling to heal from it.”
The collective fate of Anand Nath, 24, Suliman Raza, 28, and Naqash Abassi, 34, all charged with one count of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder, was in the hands of 12 men and women who have sat through three weeks of difficult testimony surrounding this dark crime that shocked the Erin Mills neighbourhood.
This was one disturbing case.
For more than 30 years, Chicken Land had been a popular takeout place run by a beloved family at Glen Erin Dr. and The Collegeway in the heart of Mississauga.
In an instant, that local treasure became a bloody homicide scene.
The motive? The Crown successfully argued this was an ISIS-inspired attack toward a family out of fear the son they converted to a radical form of Islam had found they had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group and was going to tell authorities.
Naim, 25, was struck twice by gunfire and killed. His father Jihad, mother Rania, 56, brother Daniel, 22, and an employee, Rohullah Rawi, were all hit by 9mm shells, while sister Sandra, 13, was shot at but the bullet missed her.
A masked gunman wearing a hoodie did a lot of damage over 18 seconds to the small storefront in the Esso gas station plaza, which also houses a Domino’s Pizza and a convenience store. Fleeing by getting into the trunk of a getaway car, the killers left a community in shock and a family shattered.
Peel Regional Police’s legendary homicide squad went to work and within weeks arrested three men who were working in an online fulfilment business near the airport and alleged a conspiracy that would see them take out this family for fear that Naim, who they had converted from his Druze religion at birth into Islam, would squeal that they had pledged allegiance to ISIS and were working with the banned-in-Canada terror organization.
They all pleaded not guilty and mounted a beyond-reasonable-doubt-type defence.
The jury heard about this group’s business, its dedication to a fundamentalist form of Islam and a star witness from within their pack who alleged the conspiracy and named names. But the defence made assertions that this witness was comprised, had credibility issues and could not offer smoking gun-style evidence that would make it easy for a jury to convict.
The jury was presented with a strong case by Peel police, which included evidence from cellphones, surveillance cameras, computers and insider witnesses.
It was a very professionally run trial by Justice David Harris, featuring great lawyering by counsellors for the Crown Brian McGuire, David D’Iorio and Madeline Lisus, while for the defence Kendra Stanyon representing Nath, Susan Pennypacker on behalf of Raza and Elliott Willschick for Abbasi.
Everybody did their job. In the end, so did the jury.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
WARMINGTON: Three accused in Chicken Land slaying guilty of murder, attempted murder
There's nothing that will bring Naim Akl back to his family but the three accused in his slaying being convicted of murder was a start.
