Son murdered
his whole family
to avoid telling
the truth about
his double life
Zaman’s impeccable behaviour at home,
he raised no suspicions.
By the summer of 2019, he knew time
was running out. His parents were excited
about attending his graduation – and Zaman
knew his secret was about to be exposed.
For three years, he had harboured a
disturbing idea about how to avoid telling
his parents, and it was now time to put his
plan into action.LYING IN WAIT
On 27 July, the day before he was set to
graduate, Zaman’s dad was at work, his sister
was at her part-time job at a grocery store,
and his mum and gran were having a
lie-down. At around 3pm, he killed his mum
by hitting her, with what was believed to
be a crowbar, and slitting her throat with
a kitchen knife. Then, about an hour later,
he did the same to his grandmother.
Zaman played video games for hours and
took naps as he waited for his sister to comewas at university and wanted to be a
neurosurgeon. Her brother left the house
every day to catch the bus and returned
with talk of his mechanical engineering
studies at Toronto’s York University.
Zaman’s graduation was going to be on
28 July, and there were discussions about
him doing a master’s degree afterwards.
But he had a secret. He’d been living a
double life for years and there wasn’t going
to be a graduation.
Zaman hadn’t started at York University
at all – he had enrolled at a local college
but then quickly failed the classes, and
despite being given the chance to repeat
them, he still didn’t succeed and dropped
out in 2015 after a couple of semesters.
But he didn’t tell his family. He just left
the house every day, with his backpack
and laptop, and pretended he was going
to university in an elaborate lie that
continued for years.
At the start, Zaman did head to campus,
but he’d just find somewhere quiet to play the
multiplayer role-play video games that he
was obsessed with. He made online friends
from around the world and disappeared into
a virtual life – where he wasn’t failing.
After a while, he started hanging out at
the local shopping mall, or he’d go to the gym.
His family didn’t suspect a thing and withT
he parents of Menhaz Zaman
loved to brag about their son.
They’d proudly tell everyone that
Zaman, then 23, always put his
family first and was about to graduate with
an engineering degree so he had a bright
future ahead. Other parents in their social
circles quietly wished their sons were as
straight-laced and reliable. Dad Moniruz,
59, and mum, Momotaz, 50, couldn’t wait to
attend his graduation and see him collect
the scroll he’d worked so hard for.
Zaman lived with his parents, his sister
Malesa, 21, and grandmother Firoza Begum,
70, in Markham, Ontario. His parents had
originally emigrated from Bangladesh to
Canada in search of opportunities. Moniruz
established himself at a local taxi business
and when Momotaz got involved in property
rental, her mum Firoza also emigrated to
Canada, to help raise their children.
The couple were proud of their roots
and made sure their son and daughter were
respectful of their Bangladeshi heritage.
At the core of their teachings was the
importance of family and a strong work
ethic. Zaman and Malesa were told from
childhood that education and hard work
were the foundations
of success. And
by 2019, MalesaZaman deceived
his familyMenhaz Zaman was the golden boy, but he had
a secret that would turn him into a killer
‘I’ve just
slaughtered my
entire family’
Zaman’s
parents
believed he
was about to
graduate and
had a bright
future in
engineering