A Swedish hitman who shot a father dead on his doorstep in front of his wife and child has been found guilty of his murder.
Anis Fouad Hemissi, now 24, gunned down Swedish national Flamur Beqiri in an “organised hit” as part of escalating violence between two rival criminal networks, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Hemissi, a Swedish-Tunisian national, was part of a team of four killers sent from Sweden to assassinate the 36-year-old father-of-two on Christmas Eve in 2019.
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Flamur Beqiri was gunned down on his doorstep in front of his wife and child
Fellow Swedish national Estevan Pino-Munizaga, 35, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Tobias Andersson, 32, and Bawer Karaer, 23, also from Sweden, were acquitted of both charges.
Karaer’s cousin, Ahmet Karaer, suspected of helping to finance, plan and organise the murder, is wanted by police, having disappeared after being deported from Egypt where he was arrested for drug smuggling.
‘Tit-for-tat’ rivalry
Mr Beqiri, who was the brother of former Real Housewives of Cheshire star Misse Beqiri, was returning home hand-in-hand with his wife Debora Krasniqi and their two-year-old son when he was killed.
Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, Louise Attrill, said the murder was part of a “a tit-for-tat rivalry between two very significant organised crime groups”.
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Hemissi is seen wearing a latex mask and woolly hat in the days before the shooting
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Hemissi dressed as a litter picker as he carried out reconnaissance in the area
CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Beqiri being hit by eight bullets outside his home in Battersea, southwest London, after Hemissi opened fire 10 times at around 9pm.
Mrs Krasniqi can be heard screaming and seen cradling her two-year-old son in the footage.
The couple’s three-month-old son and the children’s three grandparents were inside the property as the gunman fled the scene on foot straight after the shooting.
Victim involved in ‘serious’ crime
Mr Beqiri had been involved in “serious and organised crime”, including international drug-dealing, the jury was told.
A close associate and friend of the victim, Naief Adawi, 37, was jailed for eight years in Denmark over one of the country’s biggest ever heists and was targeted by gunmen outside his Malmo apartment – dropping his newborn baby daughter while running away.
They both survived but his partner, Karolin Hakim, 31, was shot multiple times and killed in a murder linked to associates of crime boss Mekky, who was also involved in large-scale trafficking of cocaine and cannabis.
Mrs Krasniqi denied the claims in court and said she met her husband in the Netherlands where he was working in the music business.
He had been a target of the gang since 2019 and in November their planning stepped up as Pino-Munizaga travelled to London for around 14 hours.
Hitman wore disguises
Hemissi wore disguises, including latex masks and a litter picker’s outfit, to carry out reconnaissance in the area in the days before the murder, a jury were told.
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Mr Beqiri was said to have been involved in drug-trafficking
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Mr Beqiri was arriving home with his family when he was gunned down
The outfit and a distinctive ladies’ bicycle with a basket were abandoned when local resident Jeremy Lyons became suspicious after seeing Hemissi working on both public and private streets, telling the hitman: “Get away from this estate please.”
He had flown to the UK four days before the shooting with the sole purpose of “executing” Mr Beqiri, the court heard.
Hemissi then flew to Copenhagen In Denmark in the early hours of Christmas Day after carrying out the shooting.
He was arrested at Copenhagen Airport on 20 January 2020 before being extradited to the UK.
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Flamur Beqiri was the brother of reality TV star Misse Beqiri, pictured
Hemissi denied being hitman
Hemissi denied being a professional hitman during his trial and told the jury he was in London to “watch Netflix and chill” with a woman he met online.
He told jurors he had never heard of Mr Beqiri, had no motive to murder him and had not been paid to do so.
He said he may have read about some of the “notorious criminals” involved in the Swedish gang conflict in newspapers but did not know them and had never met or spoken with them.
Those found guilty will be sentenced next Friday.
https://news.sky.com/story/flamur-beqiri-swedish-kickboxer-found-guilty-guilty-of-murdering-father-of-two-in-organised-hit-in-london-12537428
