Fiji man living in NZ convicted of murdering family in Fiji

Muhammed Raheesh Isoof. Photo / Supplied

By RNZ

A Fiji-born New Zealand resident has been found guilty of multiple murders in Fiji.

Mohammed Raheesh Isoof of Christchurch was convicted of five counts of murder and one attempted murder.

In the Lautoka High Court, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe ruled the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Isoof had killed the family of five in August 2019.

The judge said it was evident the accused had lied in his evidence before the court.

Isoof will be sentenced on Friday.

Isoof had murdered three adults and two children and attempted to murder an 11-month old by abandoning her in the Nausori Highlands, Nadi.

The bodies of a 63-year-old carpenter, Nirmal Kumar, his 54-year-old wife, Usha Devi, their 34-year-old daughter, Nileshni Kajal and her two daughters Sana aged 11, and Samara, 8, were all found near a cliff.