a day ago
Lilo convicted of orchestrating attack and attempted kidnapping of Ontario woman Elnaz Hajtamiri
A jury has found Mohamad Lilo guilty of aggravated assault in the December 2021 frying pan attack on his former girlfriend Elnaz Hajtamiri.
Hajtamiri has been missing now for 1255 days and is presumed dead after police say she was kidnapped from a Wasaga Beach, Ont. home where she'd gone into hiding with loved ones fearing for her safety following the frying pan assault.
This week a Barrie jury convicted Lilo of orchestrating the vicious attack on his former girlfriend in her Richmond Hill parking garage during a failed abduction attempt- and ultimately her kidnapping on the night of January 12, 2022.
The court heard Lilo was obsessed with Hajtamiri and wouldn't leave her alone, eventually having her followed by several men paid to kidnap her.
Elnaz Hajtamiri
Elnaz Hajtamiri suffered a head wound requiring roughly 40 stitches after an assault in a parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Dec. 20, 2021 (Supplied)
Over the course of the five-week trial the court heard Lilo hired Riyasat Singh, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in late 2022, and Harshdeep Binner, who pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon in the frying pan attack that sent Hajtamiri to hospital, following a mistrial in March.
During Binner's plea, the court heard the Agreed Statement of Facts read by the Crown, who said Lilo tracked Hajtamiri using GPS and private investigators and hired people to assault her, including Binner, who admitted to striking Hajtamiri with a frying pan after lying in wait for hours.
Hajtamiri assault suspects
Jaspreet Singh, 24, of Delta, B.C. (L) and Sukhpreet Singh, 23, of Mississauga, Ont. (R) are wanted on Canada-wide warrants for their alleged involvement in the Elnaz Hajtamiri assault case. (YRP)
The Crown said Binner spotted Hajtamiri and ripped her from her car hitting her repeatedly in the head while Singh recorded the assault on his phone. Binner and Singh then took off when a passerby intervened. The court heard the duo left behind DNA on several items, including a black balaclava and on the stolen car they tried to torch following the attack.
Binner was later picked up in Edmonton and charged with stealing Ford F-150 pickup trucks while police had a Canada-wide warrant out for his arrest. He was sentenced to time served to be released from jail in Lindsay this week after spending two and a half years behind bars. He came to Canada on a student VISA, according to his lawyer Uma Kancharla.
Lilo, has been in custody for three years and been denied bail twice. He is scheduled to return to court next week. The remaining allegations against him have not been tested in court.
