Bristol abattoir workers jailed after tricking way into home to torture and kill two men

Two former abattoir workers who murdered a colleague and his friend by tricking their way into his home have been jailed for life.

Ionut-Valentin Boboc, 22, and Jacob-Bebe Chers, 46, stabbed to death Denzil McKenzie, 56, and Fahad Hossain Pramanik, 27.

Bristol Crown Court heard the killings were carried out at Mr McKenzie’s house in Wood Street, Easton, on 11 September last year.

The defendants had tricked their way into his home with the promise of bringing him a present.

Over a three-hour period the pair then mutilated the bodies of Mr McKenzie and Mr Pramanik.

The pair had worked with Mr McKenzie at an abattoir near Bristol before the two defendants found jobs at a car wash in the summer of 2021.

Boboc had previously had an arrangement with Mr McKenzie where he performed sex acts on him in exchange for cash.

The bodies of the victims were discovered laid out in a gruesome display in Mr McKenzie’s living room.

One of the injuries inflicted on Mr Pramanik was said to resemble the cuts Boboc and Chers would have made in their butchering work.

On the night of the killing, Boboc sent Mr McKenzie a series of messages trying to persuade him to let him go over so he could give him a present.

Mr Pramanik, who was from London, was unknown to the two defendants. He is believed to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After the murders, Boboc and Chers stole their victims’ mobile phones and audio equipment, jewellery and electronics belonging to Mr McKenzie.

• CCTV evidence shows murderers' movements before and after killings

'These defendants showed a callous contempt for life'

Kevin Dent KC, prosecuting, told the court: “The Crown’s case was that this was a pre-planned murder and the bringing of the knives to the scene would be part of that pre-planning.

“With Mr Pramanik there was a high level of callousness and at best these defendants showed a callous contempt for his life."

Mr McKenzie had 23 knife wounds and he had been tortured. Mr Pramanik had been stabbed three times, including a gash to his stomach.

After the attack, the pair tried to clean up the scene by wiping blood off the walls and other surfaces. Thick black car paint had also been sprayed on the two bodies and all around the house.

Boboc, of Abingdon Road, Bristol, admitted the murder of Mr McKenzie but denied murdering Mr Pramanik.

Meanwhile Chers, of Whitefield Road, Bristol, denied both murders. A jury found them both guilty.

Andrew Langdon KC, defending Boboc, said: “The defendant is a young man. He remains extremely sorry for the murder of Mr McKenzie. He is a 22-year-old looking at life sentence of an unimaginable length.”

Richard Smith KC, defending Chers, said there was no direct evidence knives were taken to the scene of the murders.

Mrs Justice Cutts jailed Boboc for a minimum of 37 and a half years and Chers for a minimum of 39 years.

'You have taken the lives of these men in a cruel and savage way'

“Having tricked Mr McKenzie into affording you entry into his house, you arrived at around 8pm and you left some three hours later,” the judge said as she handed the pair life sentences.

“On that night in September last year you have taken the lives of these two men in a particularly cruel and savage way.

“Having determined to kill Mr McKenzie you could not leave Mr Pramanik alive – he too became a victim of your savage brutality.

"Only the two of you know precisely what happened at 20 Wood Street. Neither of you has given a detailed account about it and both of you were silent at your trial.

“The injuries speak of the brutality of the attack upon them. I have no doubt both men suffered mental and physical suffering at your hands.”