Man Guilty of Covering Up Brutal Double Murder in Mill Hill
Mirjan Ismaili, 52, with no fixed address, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, 28 February. He faces sentencing this Thursday, 2 March, at the same court.
Helping Friend After Gruesome Stabbings
The jury learned Ismaili rushed to aid his mate, Besnik Berisha, right after the savage murders of Shkelqim Paja and Arber Fesko on 19 December 2019.
Berisha and a second attacker, Kiziku Tuwizana, ambushed and fatally stabbed the victims on Courtlands Avenue, Mill Hill, just after 8pm. The killers fled, with Berisha hauling Shkelqim’s body to a remote spot near Elstree before dumping it.
Chauffeuring Evidence in BMW and Van Convoy
Within half an hour, Berisha contacted Ismaili, who sped from his home in Ecclesbourne Close, N13, in his BMW to meet him. Berisha drove a white Peugeot van he’d used to dump the body — a van Ismaili was insured to drive, giving him a vested interest.
For nine hours, CCTV caught the pair’s convoy roaming London, trying to ditch evidence. Around 3am the van was abandoned on Carson Road, Barnet, while the BMW headed for Berisha’s Friern Barnet home. Ismaili then went home — but cunningly parked some distance away, deleting footage from his Ring doorbell to hide his tracks.
Fleeing the Country and Inevitable Arrest
The next day, Ismaili fled the UK via Eurotunnel on a supposed family trip. He never returned as planned on 2 January 2020 and vanished until his BMW turned up in Italy in February 2020, with Shkelqim’s blood found inside after forensic tests.
An arrest warrant led to Ismaili’s capture in Switzerland. He was extradited back to the UK in November 2021.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Rawlinson said: “Mirjan Ismaili did not murder Shkelqim Paja and Arber Fesko but he played an integral part in trying to ensure those who did evaded detection. Ismaili was insured to drive the van used to dump one of the bodies and was present when it was abandoned; he did not ask any questions and his story didn’t hold up. He wiped his doorbell footage and fled the UK for two years. It’s clear he knew what Berisha and Tuwizana had done and willingly helped dispose of evidence. He’s now been rightly held to account.”
