Ontario couple who fled to Europe found guilty in murder of business partner

A Toronto couple have been found guilty of murdering a B.C. man in a 2021 Hamilton, Ont. shooting.

After a seven-week trial, a jury found Oliver Karafa and his wife Lucy Li guilty of killing Tyler Pratt three years ago behind an Arvin Avenue shop in Stoney Creek.

The pair were also guilty of attempted murder for shooting Pratt’s girlfriend Jordyn Romano during the episode on Feb. 28, 2021.

Karafa and Li were the subject of a worldwide manhunt in March of 2021 after the shootings.

The pair boarded a plane to eastern Europe about 24 hours after the murder of 39-year-old Pratt. However, they would be arrested months later in Hungary.

The co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charges but did not present united fronts during the trial in Hamilton, with defence lawyers presenting different accounts of what happened.

Crown attorneys insisted Karafa planned the murders and that his spouse, Li, was complicit when business associate Pratt and his pregnant girlfriend Romano were hit by gunfire in a lot not far from Barton Street East and Green Road.

Prosecutors argued the murder went awry when Romano survived being shot in the heart, forcing the defendants to flee to Europe.

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During the trial, Karafa’s lawyer admitted the then-28-year-old pulled the trigger but insisted it was not premeditated and pleaded for a second-degree murder conviction.

Counsel Peter Zudak argued the events in 2021 were motivated by panic and not planned.

He alleged that Pratt was a drug dealer with ties to organized crime and that failures in a personal protective equipment (PPE) business the two couples were partnered in spurred on the desperate shooting.

Meanwhile, Li’s attorney contended she was unaware of Karafa’s intentions and missed red flags before the shots were fired.

On the stand, Li testified that she was on the other side of the Stoney Creek warehouse when the shooting took place, and even went as far as to say she was “perhaps the stupidest person in the room” or the world for getting involved.

She justified her flight to Europe with Karafa, insisting he convinced her their lives were in danger.

During four days of testimony in mid-April, Romano contested Li’s account and said the defendant was much closer and standing near the Range Rover where the shootings occurred.

Romano said the Sunday evening meeting was connected to a possible business venture growing marijuana and an update on a $470,000 investment she and Pratt put into a European-based PPE business.

Over 20 witnesses, including Romano and Li, testified during the trial.

Karafa did not testify.

Before sentencing, Romano revealed in a victim impact statement that she suffers from PTSD and nerve damage following surgery, a coma and subsequent loss of a child.

“I have fake bones in my upper chest,” Romano told the court.

“My mother had to hold my body together with a pillow every time I wanted to cough or sneeze for three months.”

She referred to Karafa and Li as “scary monsters” who drove her to drink and endure many sleepless nights.

“It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this happened,” said Romano.

“Although no amount of money is worth murdering and throwing your lives away, for a lousy $470,000 is pathetic.”

Justice Harrison Arrell characterized Pratt’s murder as an “outright execution” by two people “motivated solely by unparalleled greed.”

“It is difficult to imagine a more calculated and planned murder as conducted by these two individuals,” Arrell told the court.

Arrell gave both Karafa and Li life sentences for their murder conviction, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The pair received 15 years for their attempted murder convictions, which will run concurrently with their murder sentences.

In Canada, first-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years.