Two men accused of burning their friend to death on a rural South Auckland road and who also went on a “spending spree” with his life savings have been found guilty of murder.
20-year-old Shivneel Kumar and 22-year-old Bryne Permal have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
The court was told that on January 30th 2013, the victim Shalvin Prasad withdrew $30,050 from a Manukau bank at the request of Kumar, who waited outside.
According to the NZ Herald, the Crown prosecutor said the pair considered a sum of money was worth more than Prasad’s life.
The victim was assaulted at an unknown location and bundled into the boot of Permal’s mother’s car, driven by Kumar.
The defendants then bought 15 litres of petrol, using the stolen money, before they doused the victim in petrol and set him alight.
Medical witnesses gave evidence that Prasad was conscious when the fire was ignited.
In the days after the murder, Kumar spent thousands of dollars on his car and paying off various debts and on February 2nd he and Permal went shopping together.
Store records showed they got tattoos, watches and t-shirts totaling nearly $2000.
Large sums were also deposited into bank accounts linked to Kumar.
They will both be jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of at least 10 years.
Meanwhile, Shalvin Prasad’s brother Pravin said they feel today that this decision finally holds these evil criminals accountable for the malicious death of his brother.
He said they are looking very forward to an appropriate sentence being handed down.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations
