- A Caucasian man, previously convicted in 2019 of fatally shooting his sister’s African American Muslim boyfriend has been granted bail following the issuance of a new trial order. This development has sparked profound indignation within the victim’s family.
- Mark Cardilli Jr., who claimed self-defence, cited a confrontation with Isahak Muse, who refused to leave Cardilli’s family home. The judge ruled inadequate defense advocacy, leading to an appeal from the attorney general’s office. This incident also strained Portland’s Muslim community due to its perceived hate crime nature.
A Caucasian man from Maine, convicted of manslaughter in 2019 for shooting his sister’s African American Muslim boyfriend was released on bail on Friday after a judge ordered a new trial, sparking confusion and outrage from the victim’s family.
Mark Cardilli Jr. says he killed Isahak Muse in self-defense during a confrontation that escalated after Muse refused to leave the Cadilli family’s home when asked by the parents. Cadilli was 24 at the time, and Muse was 22.
A judge ruled this week that attorneys for Cadilli failed to ‘vigorously argue’ the self-defence claim during the trial. His lawyers included an attorney who’s now a district judge. The attorney general’s office vowed on Friday to appeal the judge’s decision that vacated the conviction and ordered a new trial. Meanwhile, a judge set bail at $20,000 for Cardilli and he was released on Friday.
The occurrence gave rise to a palpable sense of unease within the Muslim community of Portland, eliciting assertions from some quarters that it constituted a hate crime perpetrated by an individual of Caucasian descent against a fellow adherent of the Black Muslim identity.
Cardilli, now 28, was originally charged with murder, but he was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Cardilli said he was assaulted by Muse, backed against a wall and in fear for his life when he fired three times with one bullet grazing Muse and two bullets hitting Muse, who died at the scene.
In a statement, Muse’s sister said she was heartbroken that Cardilli was released after serving less than half of a 7 1/2-year prison sentence.
‘We are devastated and shocked to hear of this decision and cannot understand how we could lose my little brother, but Cardilli will get to walk around free,’ Asli Muse said. ‘He took my brother’s life, and was convicted of this. It is not fair that he barely served any time and can just walk away from it all. We can’t get my brother back’, she said.
