A man accused of carrying around the head of his murder victim in a plastic bucket has been convicted a second time.
On Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan found Mihaly Illes guilty of the first-degree murder of Javan Dowling, 27.
The Crown’s theory was that Illes shot Dowling in the back of the head inside a van being driven through Vancouver in April 2001.
The victim’s head was cut off, placed in a Home Depot bucket and paraded around by Illes to numerous people.
Illes wanted to prove to others that he had gotten rid of Dowling, who he suspected had been taking proceeds from their drug operation and had stolen drugs or money from other dealers.
Court heard that about two days after the killing, Illes and two other men travelled to a remote logging road near Squamish and dumped Dowling’s dismembered remains from a duffle bag into a shallow grave.
Illes and another man later made a second trip to the Squamish area where Illes buried the head and burned the bucket.
At trial, the Crown called a number of witnesses, including Derrick Madinsky, a “junior partner” in the drug business with Illes and Dowling.
Madinsky testified that he was in the van on the night of the shooting and witnessed the macabre murder.
A key part of the Crown’s case was a confession from Illes made to his girlfriend’s best friend.
The judge found Madinsky’s evidence to be unreliable and tainted but said his version of events meshed with the confession given by Illes.
He said that therefore “on the whole of the evidence” the accused was guilty of murder.
The judge imposed on Illes the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
The judgment ran to 124 pages but the judge only read out a short summary for the verdict.
Illes, wearing a black jacket, black pants and black shoes, had no reaction as he sat in the prisoner’s dock.
The accused was arrested in November 2001 and a B.C. Supreme Court jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in March 2003.
He appealed the verdict and saw his appeal dismissed by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
But a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada saw the conviction overturned after the high court found the trial judge had erred in her instructions to the jury and the accused’s rights were violated arising from a disclosure issue. A new trial was then ordered.
Monica Dowling, the victim’s mother, said outside court that she was relieved at the verdict and thankful for all the hard work of the police and Crown.
“It’s borne the fruits of justice,” she said.
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