The Nazareth District Court on Tuesday sentenced Denis Mukin to 22 years in prison for the road-rage murder of Diar Omari, 19, in May 2023. The confrontation took place near Gan Ner, south of Afula.
The court also ordered Mukin to pay NIS 258,000 to Omari’s estate, disqualified him from having a driver’s license for three years, and confiscated the Glock pistol he used in the shooting. His prison sentence commenced retroactively from his arrest on May 6, 2023, the court ruled.
Last December, Mukin was convicted of murder with indifference, meaning he knowingly disregarded the possibility that his actions would kill Omari, the court said. The prosecution had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mukin intended to kill him, a majority of the three-judge panel ruled.
Judge Osaila Abu-Assad dissented from that part of the verdict and said Mukin should have been convicted of intentional murder.
The judges were unanimous in imposing the 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 of his car holding 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 hit Omari. The fatal shot entered his chest and passed through his heart and lungs.
When Omari tried to retreat toward his car, Mukin fired three more shots that missed.
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 she had been driving. He did so to conceal that he had driven while intoxicated and while his license was disqualified, the court found. 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 using a firearm. They proposed a sentencing range of 26 years to life, citing the additional shots fired at Omari after he had already been wounded.
The defense proposed a range of 14-18 years and argued that the circumstances resembled self-defense, although Mukin had not relied on that claim during the trial.
Court rejects self-defense argument
The court rejected that argument and said Mukin had initiated the confrontation by exiting his vehicle with a pistol and firing into the air. It set the appropriate sentencing range at 20-25 years.
In selecting a 22-year term, the judges took into consideration that Mukin had no previous criminal conviction 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 is entitled to appeal the conviction or sentence to the High Court of Justice within 45 days.