A 30-year-old man faces the possibility of being sentenced to death Thursday for the 2007 killings of his ex-girlfriend’s father and sister and the attempted murder of her mother in Anaheim Hills, but the hearing could be rescheduled, as has happened before.
Iftekhar Murtaza was convicted in November 2013. In December 2013, a jury recommended that he be executed, but no sentence has been handed down pending motions for a new trial as multiple defense attorneys have come and gone.
Murtaza’s latest attorney, Mark Fredrick, has filed a declaration of conflict in the case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy said. Fredrick is also seeking a new trial for his client.
Murtaza has been prone to outbursts in the courtroom, as was the case when the verdict in the penalty phase was announced.
“I’ll take a lie detector test,” Murtaza said then.
Murtaza was convicted in the May 21, 2007, killings of Jayprakash Dhanak and his 20-year-old daughter, Karishma Dhanak, and the attempted murder of Leela Dhanak.
Co-defendant Charles Anthony Murphy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And Vitaliy Krasnoperov’s conviction was recently overturned on appeal and a new trial is pending.
Krasnoperov dropped out of the picture the night of the killings when he broke his wrist during a motorcycle accident, but he previously tried to contact a hitman, according to Gundy.
Firefighters found the bodies of Jayprakash and Karishma Dhanak near a bike trail at Mason Regional Park in Irvine around 4:15 a.m. on May 22, 2007. Karishma Dhanak appeared to have been burned alive and her throat was slashed.
Murtaza’s goal was allegedly to kill Shayona Dhanak’s family to create a void that he could then fill.
It is not clear how much religious differences between the two played a role in the murders. Murtaza was a non-practicing Muslim, but Shayona Dhanak’s family members were devout Hindus and her parents didn’t like Murtaza, Gundy said.
Leela Dhanak at one point suggested to her daughter that she blame religious differences when breaking up with Murtaza, although it wasn’t actually that serious an issue, according to Gundy.
Murtaza testified that he did not kill the victims and claimed that singer Bobby Brown’s son, Landon, was involved.
During the trial, Gundy characterized that claim as “ridiculous.”
In addition to two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, Murtaza was convicted of attempted murder for the attack on his ex-girlfriend’s mother.
Jurors found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
—City News Service