Father of "missing" teen daughter charged with attempted murder, assault in "unrelated" case (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

By the oddest of coincidences, dad VAKHTANG MAKHNIASHVILI has now been charged with the attempted murder and assault of some former neighbors. His teen daughter mysteriously "disappeared" in September 2009.

Hat tip to Annie.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/father-of-missing-toronto-teen-to-remain-in-custody/article1793030/

Father of missing Toronto teen to remain in custody
ALEYSHA HANIFF
Toronto— Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 8:22AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 8:42PM EST

The father of a missing Toronto teen charged with attempted murder will remain in custody after he appeared in bail court on Wednesday.

Outside court, Vakhtang Makhniashvili’s lawyer, Calvin Barry, said there was no prospect of finding a surety to post bail for his client at this time.

“The complicating feature, there’s an allegation of failure to comply with the first set of bail conditions, in that he was not with her [his wife]at the time of these allegations,” Mr. Barry said.

As well, Mr. Makhniashvili must not contact the complainants and any potential Crown witnesses.

He is facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and breaching bail conditions after a stabbing on Toronto’s east side on Nov. 4.

In a bizarre twist, the couple Mr. Makhniashvili is accused of stabbing posted bail for him after a separate alleged attack earlier this year. His wife became his surety after the family revoked its support. Those charges were also dealt with at Wednesday's proceedings.

Police say Mr. Makhniashvili, 50, turned himself in last week after a man and a woman were stabbed at their home in Toronto. David Langer, 54, had surgery after sustaining injuries to his stomach. His wife, Delores Langer, 51, was allegedly slashed in the arm.

In May, Mr. Makhniashvili was charged after a neighbour in his former apartment building was stabbed over a noise dispute. He was charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, forcible entry and four counts of threatening bodily harm in that incident.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Mr. Makhniashvili first appeared in court Nov. 5, but the hearing was put over to this week.

Mr. Makhniashvili has been held in protective custody at Metro West Detention Centre, in the facility’s medical wing.

Last week, his lawyer said his client had been on medication and that he wanted to have him evaluated by the forensic psychiatrist Mr. Makhniashvili has seen since May. Mr. Barry said he hopes that will take place this week.

“We’re in the process of doing that. I guess everything happens so quickly and these doctors got their own backlog,” he said.

In September, 2009, Mr. Makhniashvili’s daughter Mariam vanished on her way to school. Police still do not know the teenager's whereabouts and have no leads in the case.

The Makhniashvilis made headlines again last week when their 17-year-old son, George, did not come home from school. However, he reappeared several hours later.

“There’s a lot of stress on him from the disappearance of the daughter back in September and also from the disappearance – so to speak – from the son,” Mr. Barry said.

The lawyer said his client missed his wife and son. “He’s holding up. He’s being strong. He’s taking it a day at a time,” he said.

His wife, Lela Tabidze, looked more tired than she did at last week’s session in court. Mr. Barry said she was doing fine.

Dates for the preliminary hearings – probably one for each allegation – should be determined on Nov. 24. Before that date was set, Mr. Barry said he wanted to start those proceedings in December.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said. “You want to get to the truth and people’s memories fade.”