KILLER KNIFED DAD TO DEATH ON DOORSTEP
Minimum of 19 years for man judge blasts as ‘determined’ to take a life
A KILLER has been jailed for 19 years after the brutal stabbing of a dad.
Michael Begen knifed Mario Capuano in the neck after being asked to leave a flat because of his ‘weird’ behaviour.
Begen sprinted from the scene but was later heard boasting of his deed.
A KILLER brutally stabbed a dad to death seconds after being kicked out of a flat.
Michael Begen plunged a knife into the neck of Mario Capuano, 28, in a doorstep attack last October.
Begen then sprinted from the scene – but was later heard boasting: “I done that c***”.
The 28 year-old – known as Mick – had denied murder amid claims a mystery assailant had struck Mr Capuano in Barmulloch.
But Begen was convicted following a week-long trial.
Lady Rae jailed Begen for life and ordered him to serve at least 19 years behind bars.
She said: “This was a senseless and violent assault on a young man all because he punched you and put you out of the house.”
The judge added it appeared Begen was “determined to kill”.
Lady Rae said victim impact statements made it clear the death had “devastated” Mr Capuano’s family.
It emerged Begen had been freed early from a previous jail-term having been locked up for a robbery involving the use of an axe.
The killing was the second heartbreak for Mr Capuano’s family after his younger brother died in 2008.
The High Court in Glasgow heard the men and others had been at the flat on the afternoon of October 8 last year.
The atmosphere was initially described as “fine”.
But Mr Capuano was said to have become “angry” after Begen flung the dad’s phone on the ground.
The thug had used the mobile to call a bank – but then hurled it away when he realised he had the wrong number.
Begen was eventually asked to leave because he was “acting weird”.
Stephanie Jackson – one of the people present – said he “he kept putting his hands in his pockets” and was “right in people’s faces”.
Begen had faced a breach of the peace accusation – later withdrawn – that he had made those in the flat believe he was “planning to produce a weapon”.
Miss Jackson: “He done that to Mario, who was saying that he was making him feeling uncomfortable.
“Mario had been stabbed before. He asked to see what he had in his pockets.
“Mick took his hands out and the only thing he had (in them) was a lighter.”
The court was shown a video that Mr Capuano had recorded on his mobile that day.
In it, he is heard stating to Begen: “Gonna not approach us like that again with your hands in your pockets.”
Jurors heard the men eventually started arguing and Mr Capuano punched Begen.
Begen was then “unceremoniously bundled” out of the flat by the dad.
But, prosecutors stated the fuming killer quickly returned and lashed out at Mr Capuano as he answered the door.
Miss Jackson recalled Mr Capuano then walking back in clutching his neck. She told jurors: “He said: ‘Stephanie, I have been stabbed. Phone an ambulance.”
The bleeding victim slumped onto Miss Jackson. She remembered being “freaked out”.
Paramedics rushed to the flat, but the dad, of Springburn, never recovered.
Begen was spotted by a witness hurrying from the scene. Prosecutor David Taylor suggested to jurors he was “running from his guilt”.
Begen was later heard chatting to another person stating: “I done that c***.”
In his closing speech, Mr Taylor said Begen went back to the flat in “anger and rage” lashing out using “considerable” force.
The court was told Begen had 36 previous convictions –including several for violence. He was jailed in 2016 for 28 months for assault and attempted robbery while using an axe but was released early.
Mr Capuano, meanwhile, was killed nine years after his 15-year-old brother Lee died after taking an ecstasy tablet.