Arber "Benny" Krasniqi had a history of brandishing a knife at the first sign of trouble.

Arber "Benny" Krasniqi had a history of brandishing a knife at the first sign of trouble.But even as he displayed his violent streak time and time again, police and Crown attorneys appeared to treat him with leniency and indifference, court records show.In the six years before he stabbed 24-year-old Jordan Ormonde to death in a Greek restaurant on the Danforth, police arrested Krasniqi for a spate of violent incidents involving a knife but only once was there an attempt made to prosecute him.Today a jury found Krasniqi, 34, guilty of second-degree murder. Crown attorney Ann Morgan called the April 22, 2007 slaying an "unprovoked assault." Krasniqi testified at his trial that when he stabbed Ormonde in the neck he was acting in self defence.During six weeks of evidence, jurors heard Krasniqi had one brush with the law where he was convicted of assault.Court documents, including a transcript of his bail hearing on the murder charge - bail was denied in January 2008 - detail a plethora of allegations never tested or proven in court although they did result in Krasniqi being released on peace bonds with various conditions and several orders to attend and complete anger management counselling.
The examples included:
Sept. 1, 2001, Krasniqi was arrested for punching his now ex-wife in the face with a closed fist. She declined to testify and he was released on a peace bond for 12 months.Oct. 14, 2002, he allegedly pulled out a six-inch silver utility knife and threatened to cut two doormen at the Rumours Nite Club on Eglinton Ave. E. He was later released on another peace bond.April 21, 2003, Krasniqi was arrested at Caddy's Bar on Eglinton on two charges of failing to comply and one of carrying a concealed weapon. He was ordered not to be within 100 metres of the address or drinking alcohol. Police said he had a folding knife. The charges were withdrawn on Jan. 14, 2005 and 50 hours community service imposed.Jan. 17, 2004, while on bail for the 2002 charges, he was charged with assault for allegedly punching a man in an unprovoked attack. The charge was withdrawn the following year and he entered into a recognizance to keep the peace.March 16, 2007, Krasniqi was arrested for assault after a parking control officer was punched. A charge of possessing a prohibited weapon - a knife - was dropped because there was nothing to forensically connect him to it. He was convicted and sentenced to seven days in jail and one year probation. The defence is appealing."Mr. Krasniqi's behaviour demonstrates a flagrant disregard for court orders and a history of using knives in acts of violence," the prosecutor said at his January 2008 bail hearing for Ormonde's murder. At that time, lawyer James Silver told the judge Krasniqi had no criminal record and there had never been a finding of wrongdoing.Silver argued the various court-ordered sanctions were reflective only of allegations and nothing more. A peace bond is not an acknowledgement that an accused broke the law but rather an undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour."Mr. Krasniqi is entitled to the presumption of innocence regarding those criminal charges," Justice Susan Himel wrote in her decision denying Krasniqi bail.However, Himel noted Krasniqi was awaiting trial and was on a recognizance that he would keep the peace for a period of 12 months at the time Ormonde was killed. "In these matters, he has demonstrated a problem with controlling his anger and a propensity for violence."One of the most serious allegations took place on Aug. 13, 2005 at the Black Eagle Bar in Mississauga.
According to a police report, Krasniqi, who came to Canada from Kosovo in 1999, got involved in a verbal dispute with a customer at the bar. A man who tried to intervene was stabbed in the left shoulder with a four-inch knife. He needed three stitches to close the wound.Outside the bar, a woman was slashed on her left arm from her wrist to her elbow and through to the bone. She received 20 staples in her arm, police reports say. Another person was struck with a beer bottle in the back of his head.A warrant naming Krasniqi for multiple offences connected to the incident was issued two days later. But Peel police didn't arrest him until he turned himself in to 12 Division on Oct. 19, 2005. He was charged with three counts of assault with a weapon and three counts of mischief, in addition to breaching his recognizance.
On Nov. 3, 2005, he was released on his own recognizance and put under house arrest, although that was varied to allow him out "for various purposes," Silver told court.After being put over several times, the matter was finally set for a five-day trial in February 2007 with between 15 and 20 civilian witnesses and the same number of police scheduled to testify. But according to a transcript, Crown attorney Scott Pratt said he had only been assigned the file at 5 o'clock the previous night "so I'm still making some headway through it."And he signalled there was trouble with the Crown's case. "In all of the circumstances there were identification issues and as it turned out, disclosure issues that needed to be addressed." Pratt, now a Crown attorney in Windsor, said he couldn't recall details of the case. Pratt told the judge he wasn't "prepared to proceed, I don't have a provable case to present," and asked that Krasniqi enter into a common-law recognizance to keep the peace for a period of 12 months with certain conditions and not possess any weapon.The Attorney General's office had no comment on the case nor on Krasniqi's background because he is still before the courts.Just this week, the Ontario government announced Crown attorneys and police officers need to do more to share more information and work together more closely to keep a better watch on repeat violent offenders.Attorney General Chris Bentley and Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci said they will set up a task force and working group so Crown attorneys and police officers can give the courts the information they need to keep violent repeat offenders behind bars.While the agencies already share some information, all sides can do better, Bentley and Bartolucci said."The police are going to identify the definition of those they believe should be targeted," Bartolucci said.