WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be triggering to some readers.
A Surrey man who beat his wife to death with a baseball bat in 2018 has lost an appeal of his second-degree murder conviction. A pathologist likened her injuries to those sustained by victims of catastrophic traffic crashes.
A jury found Rizig Hamet Bona, 47, guilty on March 3, 2021, following a seven-week trial in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, of murdering Anida Magaya. Bona received an automatic life sentence and Justice William Ehrcke set his eligibility to apply for parole at 11 years, despite the jury recommending the minimum 10 years.
Ehrcke noted Magaya's face and head "were battered almost beyond recognition."
Bona claimed he'd acted in self-defence and in part that he was provoked.
A pathologist who examined Magaya's body told the court her jaw had been broken, four teeth were knocked out, the globe around her eye collapsed and her nose, forehead, and base of her skull were fractured.
The Crown argued for Bona's eligibility to apply for parole be set after he served between 12 and 14 years, while the defence argued for 10. The maximum is 25.
鈥淗ad it not been for the jury鈥檚 recommendation, I would have been inclined to impose a 12 year period of parole ineligibility to give effect to the need for denunciation and deterrence of this act of deadly family violence,鈥� Ehrcke said. 鈥淚n light of the jury鈥檚 recommendation, however, I will fix the period of parole ineligibility at 11 years.鈥�
The Court of Appeal for British Columbia in Vancouver heard Bona's appeal on Jan. 8 and Justice Peter Edelmann dismissed it on Jan. 29, with Justices Susan Griffin and Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten concurring.
Bona's lawyer argued that Ehrcke erred by not "explicitly" instructing the jury the provocation defence wouldn't be negated if it found he'd used excessive force.
But Edelmann wasn't satisfied the judge had erred. "In my view, a jury following the clear instructions set out by the trial judge would have fairly and appropriately considered the defence of provocation," he decided.
The couple met in 2008, married in 2012 but did not have children. They lived in a basement suite in Surrey, with their landlord and the landlord鈥檚 family living upstairs. Police were called to the couple鈥檚 home in the early morning of Oct. 5, 2018 to find the basement door locked and used a battering ram to get inside. They found Magaya鈥檚 body in a pool of blood in a spare bedroom, and a baseball bat, machete and broken lamp near her body.
Bona testified at his 2021 trial their relationship wasn't free from conflict.
鈥淧eople who knew them recommended counselling,鈥� Ehrcke noted in his reasons for judgment. 鈥淭here were a few incidents when she struck him with a flower pot or poked him with the tip of a knife. He never had any serious injuries from these incidents, although he made a point of going to the hospital after the flowerpot incident and had photographs taken.鈥�
In August 2018 Magaya spent three weeks in a transition house and near the end of that month was diagnosed with a small brain tumour, the court heard. She and Bona began living together again, despite continuing conflict and suspicions of infidelity.
Bona testified at his trial that on the evening before her body was found, Magaya came at him with a machete they鈥檇 bought for camping. He threw a lamp at her, picked up a baseball bat and swung it at her twice. He told the court he was trying to knock the machete out of her hand and didn鈥檛 realize he鈥檇 hit her head with the bat. She went down, and couldn鈥檛 speak.
Bona then got dressed, took a walk, and drove around for a while before calling 911 about 50 minutes later and turning himself in at the police station.
The jury decided it was not a case of self-defence or a case of provocation but rather Bona "intended to kill his wife or intended to cause her bodily harm that he knew was likely to cause her death, and was reckless whether death ensued or not,鈥� Ehrcke noted.
Bona testified during the trial that on Oct. 2, 2018 his wife accused him of cheating and threatened him with a machete, cutting his hand twice before dropping the blade.
He said he removed it and "some other potentially dangerous items" from their suite, left them in a local park and then on the next day went to a courthouse seeking legal help to obtain a divorce and protection order against her. Then on that evening he returned to the park, picked up the machete and other items, brought them back home, then went to a pub. When he got home, he told the court, Magaya was 鈥渢hrowing words at him鈥� and making accusations.
He testified he picked up a lamp when his wife running at him with a black object in her hand, that she swung at him twice with the object and he threw the lamp at her before picking up a bat that was laying against a wall.
He testified Magaya came at him again, and he swung the bat trying to hit the object in her hand, which he came to realize was a machete. After Bona swung the bat, Magaya stumbled to the ground, got up quickly, and made jabbing motions toward him. He told the court he swung the bat again, Magaya fell and did not get up.
It was the Crown鈥檚 theory at the trial that Bona believed Magaya cheated on him and he intentionally killed her by hitting her at least five times with the baseball bat. Further, it was the prosecutor's position Magaya did not attack Bona and he placed the machete in her hand after killing her.
