Denis Mukin sentenced to 22 years for murder of Diar Omari in road dispute

The Nazareth District Court on Tuesday sentenced Denis Mukin to 22 years in prison for murdering 19-year-old Diar Omari during a roadside confrontation near Gan Ner in May 2023.

The court also ordered Mukin to pay NIS 258,000 to Omari’s estate, disqualified him from holding a driver’s license for three years, and confiscated the Glock pistol used in the shooting. His prison sentence will be counted from his arrest on May 6, 2023.

Mukin was convicted in December of murder with indifference, meaning the court found that he knowingly disregarded the possibility that his actions would kill Omari. A majority of the three-judge panel found that the prosecution had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mukin intended to kill him.

Judge Osaila Abu-Assad dissented from that part of the verdict, saying that Mukin should have been convicted of intentional murder. The panel was unanimous in imposing Tuesday’s sentence.

According to the court’s findings, Mukin was driving while disqualified and under the influence of alcohol and cannabis when he encountered Omari on a road leading toward Gan Ner on May 6, 2023. The two did not know each other.

Mukin became angry at the way Omari was driving and tried unsuccessfully to overtake him. After an exchange between the two drivers, Mukin stopped his car, got out, held his pistol, and fired several rounds into the air.

Mukin fired two shots which hit Omari, one of which caused his death 

A physical struggle followed, during which Mukin fired two shots that struck Omari. One entered his chest, passed through his heart and lungs, and caused his death.

Omari got up and moved back toward his car after being shot. Mukin then stood and fired three more rounds toward his back, none of which struck him.

After Omari collapsed, Mukin crossed the road, looked at him, and left without providing assistance or calling emergency services, the court found.

Mukin later returned to the scene with his sister after asking her to tell police that she had been driving. The court found that he did so to conceal that he had driven while intoxicated and while his license was disqualified. His sister initially gave police that account but retracted it shortly afterward.

Mukin was also convicted of driving while disqualified, two counts of driving while intoxicated, inducing another person to obstruct an investigation and intentionally damaging a vehicle.

Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Mukin to life imprisonment, arguing that the killing arose from a trivial road dispute and demonstrated the ease with which he resorted to a firearm. They proposed a sentencing range of 26 years to life and pointed in particular to the additional shots fired at Omari after he had already been wounded.

The defense proposed a range of 14 to 18 years and argued that the circumstances came close to self-defense, although Mukin had not relied on self-defense during the trial itself.

Court rejects self-defense argument

The court rejected that argument, finding that Mukin initiated the confrontation by leaving his vehicle with a pistol and firing into the air. It set the appropriate sentencing range at 20 to 25 years.

In selecting a 22-year term, the judges considered that Mukin had no previous criminal convictions and had already spent more than three years in detention. They weighed those factors against his failure to accept responsibility for the offenses, his traffic record and risk factors identified in a probation report.

The court also imposed suspended prison terms and recommended that the Israel Prison Service consider placing Mukin in a treatment program.

Mukin may appeal the conviction or sentence to the Supreme Court within 45 days.