Sumith Prasad
Peacock’s two-part docuseries ‘Perfect World: A Deadly Game’ centers around a group of gamers who witnessed a murder spree unfolding in messages from their friend Menhaz Zaman. Upon seeing the appalling images of multiple murders, the group tried to locate the man to prevent him from killing his father, only to fail. However, the gamers’ initiatives played a pivotal role in understanding the magnitude of the murders committed by Menhaz Zaman, who pleaded guilty to killing his father, mother, grandmother, and sister in July 2019. If you are curious to know Zaman’s motive and his present whereabouts, we have got you covered!
Why Did Menhaz Zaman Kill His Family?
In between the afternoon on July 27, 2019, and the following morning, Menhaz Zaman, a then-23-year-old man who lived in Markham, Ontario, killed his 50-year-old mother, Momtaz Begum; 70-year-old grandmother, Firoza Begum; 21-year-old sister, Malesa Zaman, and 59-year-old father, Moniruz Zaman. Upon killing his mother, Zaman killed his grandmother about an hour later. After the two murders, Zaman waited for the return of his sister and father, spending his time playing video games and napping.
When his sister arrived home at around 11 pm, Zaman killed her, followed by the murder of their father an hour later. As per the autopsy, Zaman initially hit each of the four victims likely with a crowbar, and slit their throats after that. In an agreed statement of facts, Zaman killed his family because he didn’t want them to know about the lie he had been living, specifically about his education. For years prior to the murders, Zaman pretended to be an engineering student at York University in front of his family.
However, in reality, Zaman was a student of Seneca College in an Electronics Engineering program only for a few semesters. He dropped out in 2015 due to failing grades, faked his life as a York University student until the slayings, lying about going to college to his family but spending his time at a nearby mall and gym. As per the lie he had built, Zaman was supposed to be graduating on July 28, 2019 — the day after the actual murders.
The agreed statement of facts states that Zaman wanted to kill the family members before they realized he wouldn’t graduate, which might have exposed his lie. On the time period of the murders, a user believed to be Zaman, with a username “Menhaz,” shared a series of messages and photographs allegedly pertaining to the murders to multiple gamers. “I wanted them to die so that they didn’t suffer knowing how much of a pathetic subhuman i was. its all very selfish,” one of the messages from the user read.
Where is Menhaz Zaman Now?
As per court documents, Zaman’s interaction with a friend in Minnesota — which included the images of the dead bodies of the victims — paved the way for his arrest. The friend contacted Toronto police, who alerted York Regional Police about the crime. Zaman was arrested on July 28, 2019. He pleaded guilty to all the murders in September 2020. Even though he was initially charged with four counts of first-degree murder, Zaman was sentenced to serve life in prison for three counts of first-degree murders (of Firoza, Moniruz, and Malesa) and one count of second-degree murder (of Momtaz) in November 2020.
“No right-thinking member of society would see any remote correlation between the imminent disclosure of the secret of Mr. Zaman’s non-attendance at school and the vicious taking of the lives of the four people closest to him,” said Justice Michelle Fuerst upon delivering Zaman’s sentence from a Newmarket, Ontario, court. “Words such as brutal, cruel, cold and callous do not begin to convey the enormity of his violence,” Justice Fuerst added.
In October 2020 — prior to his sentencing — Zaman apologized for his actions during a sentencing hearing. “I would like to just apologize to anyone I have impacted negatively with my actions. Especially to the people who knew my family – friends and loved ones who I know could have never seen something like this from me happening,” he said.
In addition to the sentence to serve life in prison, Zaman received parole ineligibility of 25 years for the three first-degree murders and 15 years for the second-degree murder, making his total parole ineligibility 40 years. As per the last reports, Zaman is currently serving his prison sentence at Central East Correctional Centre AKA Lindsay Jail in Lindsay, Ontario. Considering the parole ineligibility, Menhaz Zaman is expected to live in the prison at least till the age of 64, i.e., without the possibility of parole till 2060.
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