The Reykjavík District Court sentenced Angjelin Sterkaj to 16 years in prison for the murder of Armando Bequirai this morning, RÚV reports. The other three defendants in the case were acquitted. After police presented him with evidence of his guilt, Angjelin confessed to the murder, which he claimed was committed in self-defence.
Armando Bequirai was shot to death outside his home on Rauðagerði street in Reykjavík on February 13, 2021. He was in his 30s and left behind a wife and two children, who were in the home at the time the murder took place. The police investigation in the case was the most extensive in Icelandic history, and suspicion soon arose that the murder was part of a settlement between criminal groups, domestic as well as international.
Deputy District Prosecutor Kolbrún Benediktsdóttir demanded that the sentence for Angjelin should be between 16 and 20 years, arguing that the murder was a well-organised execution. The three other defendants, Claudia Sofia Coelho Carvahlo, Shpetim Qerimi and Selivrada Mura, all pleaded not guilty and said they did not know what Angjelin had intended to do in Rauðagerði.
Angjelin was also sentenced to pay ISK 4 million [$31,000, €27,000] in damages to Armando’s widow, Þóranna Helga Gunnarsdóttir, as well as ISK 27 million [$209,000, €180,000] due to loss of income, and just over ISK 500,000 [$3,900, €3,300] for funeral costs. He was also sentenced to pay damages to Armando’s parents and his two children, as well as the legal fees of the defence.
