Judicial boundary: Angjelin Sterkaj was convicted of murder. Claudia Carvalho, Murat Selivrada and Shpetim Qerimi were ultimately convicted of complicity, not of firing the shots. The page preserves those defendant-specific findings.
The killing in Rauðagerði
Beqirai returned to his home on a Saturday night, parked in the garage and was attacked as he came through the garage door. Reporting on the judgments records that he was struck by nine shots. He died at the scene, leaving a partner and children.
The Metropolitan Police later described the investigation as one of the most extensive it had conducted in recent years. Numerous people were arrested or questioned, and investigators reconstructed movements, communications and preparations surrounding the attack.
Investigation and prosecution theory
Authorities treated the shooting as planned rather than spontaneous. Sterkaj admitted shooting Beqirai but argued self-defence. The courts rejected that account. Prosecutors contended that the other three defendants had helped prepare or facilitate the killing.
Contemporary reporting repeatedly connected the case to a suspected dispute in the criminal underworld. That description remains a reported investigative context, not a substitute for the conduct the courts proved against each defendant.
The district-court judgment
In December 2021, Reykjavík District Court convicted Sterkaj of murder and imposed a 16-year prison sentence. It acquitted Carvalho, Selivrada and Qerimi of participation in the killing. The split outcome reflected the district court’s assessment of whether the prosecution had proved each person’s individual contribution beyond reasonable doubt.
The state prosecutor appealed, seeking convictions for the three acquitted defendants and a different sentence for Sterkaj.
Landsréttur reverses three acquittals
In October 2022, Landsréttur convicted all four as co-principals. It increased Sterkaj’s sentence to 20 years and imposed 14-year sentences on Carvalho, Selivrada and Qerimi. The defendants sought permission for final review.
The legal issue at the last stage was not simply whether the attack occurred or whether Sterkaj fired the shots. It included whether the evidence supported treating the other defendants as co-principals or as accomplices, and whether the appellate sentences stayed within the statutory framework.
The final Supreme Court decision
On 21 June 2023, Iceland’s Supreme Court confirmed guilt for all four defendants but changed the legal characterization of three roles. Sterkaj remained convicted of murder and received 16 years. Qerimi received 10 years, Selivrada four and Carvalho three for complicity.
The court treated Carvalho’s and Selivrada’s preparatory roles as minor participation when fixing punishment. The result therefore did not erase their convictions; it replaced the appellate court’s co-principal findings and uniform 14-year terms with individualized accomplice findings and sentences.
Current status
The criminal judgments are final. In August 2026, Icelandic reporting stated that Sterkaj had been conditionally released after serving the qualifying portion of his sentence, with continuous pretrial custody credited, and deported to Albania under a temporary statutory mechanism. That later enforcement decision did not alter the conviction or the 16-year sentence.
No source used in this review supports assigning criminal responsibility to anyone beyond the four defendants adjudicated in the case.
Verified timeline
- 13 February 2021: Armando Beqirai is killed outside his Rauðagerði home.
- 17 February 2021: Sterkaj’s continuous pretrial custody begins, according to the later sentence-enforcement record.
- December 2021: the district court sentences Sterkaj to 16 years and acquits three co-defendants.
- October 2022: Landsréttur convicts all four as co-principals and imposes 20- and 14-year terms.
- 21 June 2023: the Supreme Court enters the final murder and accomplice convictions with sentences of 16, 10, four and three years.
- August 2026: officials confirm Sterkaj’s conditional release and deportation; the final conviction remains intact.
Frequently asked questions
Was there a final murder conviction?
Yes. Sterkaj’s murder conviction became final in the Supreme Court.
Were all four convicted of the same offence?
No. The Supreme Court distinguished Sterkaj’s murder conviction from the other three defendants’ accomplice liability.
Why did the sentences change?
The Supreme Court rejected the appellate court’s treatment of the three other defendants as co-principals and individualized their participation.
Sources and source-quality review
- Metropolitan Police — 2021 annual-report case reviewOfficial account of the response, public impact and scale of the investigation.
- Vísir — Supreme Court judgment and procedural history21 June 2023 · final liability classifications, sentences and earlier judgments.
- Vísir — defendant-specific Supreme Court sentences21 June 2023 · confirmation of all four convictions and individualized terms.
- RÚV English — sentence-enforcement update14 August 2026 · conditional release and deportation, separate from guilt.
Editorial review: the final convictions are separated from the alleged broader criminal context, and later release administration is not presented as a change to the judgment.