Killer who butchered two Leeds housemates to death found guilty of double murder
A man who stabbed his two housemates to death at a house in Harehills has been found guilty of their murders.
Robert Jean has been on trial at Leeds Crown Court over the deaths of Khaja Raisoddin Mohammed and Abdullah Mirzada, both of whom were found brutally stabbed to death at the Hill Top Mount property in September last year.
CCTV played during the two-week trial showed Jean chasing Mr Mirzada from the house armed with a knife. Mr Mirzada was found unconscious in the street moments later. He died on the street.
Jean’s landlord, Mr Mohammed, was found a short time later dying in the basement of the house. He also died a short time later.
Two knives Jean placed in a bin were found to contain blood from the two victims, and Jean’s DNA.
Jean, 47, later claimed he was acting in self defence and that the two victims had tried to injure him, but no defensive wounds were found on either of the deceased, suggesting both were the victims of a surprise attack.
The jury were sent out to consider their verdict just before lunch yesterday, Friday, December 13, and returned a unanimous verdict later in the afternoon
Jean, will now be sentenced this Tuesday, December 17. A life sentence is mandatory but the judge will set a minimum tariff he must serve before being considered for parole.
During the trial, the court was told that Mali-born Jean had lived at the shared four-storey end-terrace home with the two deceased men and two other men.
Mr Mohammed, 65, who was known locally as “Uncle”, had rented the full house from a family and sub-let the rooms to the four single tenants.
Mr Mohammed would provide out-of-work Jean with food and encourage him to find a job, which often led to arguments between them.
The day before the murders, Jean had told a local supermarket owner - whom he used to work for - that “Uncle was doing his head in” because he was demanding late rent money.
Shortly after 11am on Saturday, September 30 last year, a call was made to police by a resident that a man - 53-year-old Mr Mirzada - was laid motionless in the street.
He was found by police with multiple stab wounds and died minutes later. They also found Mr Mohammed with multiple stab wounds and a fractured skull in the basement.
He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
Jean was found sat on the pavement by officers when they arrived on the scene.
He claimed a man had come to the house and attacked him and the other men, but then appeared to say “they attack me every day” and confessed it was someone in the house who had caused an injury to his hand.