A man who murdered his own daughter and her husband in a suspected honour killing will plead guilty to the shocking crime after dumping his bid to escape justice on mental impairment grounds.
Lindita Musai had been trying to start a new life away from her father when she was cut down in a hail of bullets alongside her new husband Veton on New Year’s Eve in 2019.
Osman Shaptafaj, 55, was charged with two counts of murder by homicide squad detectives in Melbourne after making a miraculous recovery from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Osman Shaptafaj in a post from Facebook. He was said to have been estranged from his family when he gunned down his own daughter
The Albanian Australian Islamic Society mosque in Carlton North on Saturday. Thousands lined the street to pay their respects to the deceased couple
The couple married about a year before they were murdered but had been dating for at least five years
Ms Musai’s father lived just 5km from the couple but was estranged from her and her mother amid accusations of turmoil within the family.
He was found soon after the attack a block away with gunshot wounds to his head.
On Friday, his barrister, James Fitzgerald, told the Supreme Court of Victoria his client would plead guilty to charges of murder.
The backflip followed word from prosecutors that they would hotly contest an attempt by Shaptafaj to escape justice with a mental impairment bid.
Psychiatrists acting for the Crown had dismissed claims the killer was unfit to plead to the crimes due to mental illness.
Instead, the cold blooded killer will now face court again in May where he will plead guilty to murdering his daughter and her husband.
Daily Mail Australia had been told all was not well in the Shaptafaj household.
A devastated family member, who wished to remain anonymous, said at the time of the killing that Mrs Musai had endured a ‘difficult’ upbringing.
The relative spoke out amid speculation the couple had become victims of some sort of honour killing.
Osman Shaptafaj has been accused killing his daughter and her husband before turning the gun on himself
Veton Musai, 29, succumbed to his injuries a day after his wife Lindita
Osman Shaptafaj in another Facebook rant.
He claimed Ms Masai’s mother had separated from Shaptafaj about eight years ago after spending time in hospital.
‘I’ll just say it was nothing to do with his backgound or his beliefs, as he has no beliefs,’ the man said of the attack.
He claimed the killer struck in a last ditch effort to regain control over his daughter after she bravely turned him away to begin a peaceful life.
‘It’s really making me sick … to be honest with you. Lindita and Veton were perfect, absolutely perfect,’ he said.
The relative said Lindita’s mother had done her best to live in the unhappy household, but found the courage to leave after a stint in hospital.
‘She was trying to keep the peace, to the point of leaving him, the house, the car and money not to put (him) on edge,’ he said.
The pair were attacked in their home in Yarraville, western Melbourne about 10.30am as 2019 came to a close.
Osman Shaptafaj turned a gun on himself after killing his own daughter and her husband
The couple were found on the front porch of their house with gunshot wounds to their upper bodies
Hundreds of mourners gathered to farewell the couple at the Albanian Australian Islamic Society mosque in Carlton North.
They packed the mosque to pray and to listen to short eulogies given during the hour-long service.
About three thousand more stood outside the mosque on the street to pay their respects.
Ms Musai became the 266th Australian to be killed in 2019 – the last in Victoria – and the 72nd woman lost to violence last year.
Mr Musai’s brother Drilon paid tribute to the couple on Facebook at the time, expressing anger at their tragic deaths.
‘Finally, hate killed beauty, a devil killed love! The Angels were shot smiling, That the monster didn’t sleep!’ he wrote.
‘Veton, I am broken without you, The family is broken without you, but the memories we have of you will hold us together forever and help soothe these wounds.
‘To everyone out there. Please remember Veton and Lindita for who they were, their love, their passion and their otherworldly presence, because to remember them for what happened is an injustice to love itself.’
The couple reportedly had other guests at their home when the incident took place.
They were found on the front porch of their house with gunshot wounds to their upper bodies.
A gun was found at the end of the street on public land.
The couple had wed earlier this year and were allegedly shot on the front porch of their house
Lindita Musai, 25, (pictured) was shot dead and her husband Veto Musai, 29, critically injured in a hail of bullets at their western Melbourne home
A witness told Channel 7 in Melbourne he had seen a man come out of a bush and shoot himself in the head, fall to the ground, then get up again and shoot himself again.
Mr Musai’s cousin shared his grief on Facebook after the 29-year-old died in hospital 30 hours after he was shot.
‘I don’t know how to put the words together.. Allah knows best why things happen the way they do,’ he started, before adding he ‘can’t even begin to explain’ how he’s feeling.
‘The only thing keeping us strong is belief in God.
‘May Allah bring the two gorgeous souls together again in Jannah.’
The young couple had only been married a year, but had been a couple for at least five. Friends described their wedding as one of the ‘best they’d ever been to’.
‘Such a lovely couple, such a lovely family… One of the best weddings I’ve been to in Australia,’ a friend of the family wrote on Facebook.
Ms Musai was employed as a receptionist for real estate firm Colliers International in Melbourne’s CBD while her husband worked at a nearby bank.