Osman Shaptafaj: Court of Appeal rejects murderer’s bid for shorter sentence

A man who callously murdered his daughter and her husband after learning they were newlyweds has had his appeal for a reduced sentence rejected.

Veton Musai, 29, and Lindita Musai, 25, both died after the New Year's Eve shooting. Source: Lindita Musai/Facebook

A man who callously murdered his daughter and her husband at the couple’s inner-city Melbourne home has had his appeal for a lighter sentence rejected.

Osman Shaptafaj was handed 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 killings after learning of his estranged daughter’s marriage and lying in wait at the couple’s Yarraville home on the night of New Year’s Eve 2019.

Lindita and Veton Musai were murdered by Ms Musai’s father, Osman Shaptafaj, in Yarraville in 2019. Picture: Facebook

When the couple returned home he shot both of them in the head before turning the gun on himself in a nearby park.

In the Court of Appeal last week, Shaptafaj’s barrister Rishi Nathwani argued that his client had received the maximum penalty despite being entitled to a discount owing to his plea, disabilities and the impact of a prison sentence during Covid-19.

Crown prosecutor Diana Piekusis KC, in the same hearing, told the court the murders were cold-blooded and premeditated and of a seriousness that outweighed mitigating factors.

The Court of Appeal said it was a “very serious instance of the crime of murder”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

According to the Court of Appeal judgment handed down on Wednesday, Shaptafaj had become estranged from his family by 2011 and led an “isolated and lonely life” in Altona.

“It was apparent, from the circumstances of the case, that the applicant harboured deep-seated anger and resentment towards Lindita and Veton,” Justices Priest, Kaye and Hargrave wrote on Thursday.

Shaptafaj, then 55 and now 59, had become enraged over the couple’s decision to marry in December 2018.

The Musais had spent the three nights before their death at a hotel in the Melbourne CBD celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary.

On the morning of December 31, the couple caught an Uber back to their Salisbury St home, where they lived with Mr Musai’s family.

Shaptafaj was waiting outside a nearby home, having driving himself there earlier that morning, with a loaded Smith and Wesson .38 calibre revolver.

As his daughter and her husband waited outside the front door after ringing the bell, Shaptafaj walked up behind them and fired the fatal shots at close range before a family member of Mr Musai’s opened the door and saw the couple lying on the porch.

The Court of Appeal said it was a “very serious instance of the crime of murder”.

“(T)he application for leave to appeal against sentence must be refused,” the Court of Appeal wrote.

Originally published as Osman Shaptafaj: Court of Appeal rejects murderer’s bid for shorter sentence