GUILTY NY - Imam Maulana Akonjee, 55, & Thara Uddin, 64, slain, Queens, 13 Aug 2016

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  • #21
Update, morning of Aug 15.
Suspect questioned, waiting for a warrant to search his house.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...emand-justice-shooting-imam-article-1.2750872

"Sources pointed to an ongoing feud between Muslims and Hispanics in the neighborhood, saying the shooting may have been payback after a group of Muslims allegedly attacked some Hispanics a few weeks earlier."

Suspect was seen on video shooting the victims, "But the killer may have gotten sloppy in his haste after pulling the trigger and hit a bicyclist with his car, sources said.

The cyclist took down the car's license plate number and gave it to police, who began tracking down their man."
 
  • #22
Mevadus said:
http://nypost.com/2016/08/14/video-shows-the-moment-imam-assistant-were-shot/

NY Post article above. Video is graphic for those who would like to know, and the same as was previously posted.

Suspect apparently jumped into waiting car after firing the shots, so I'm guessing a description of a vehicle of interest will come out soon.

Plenty of witnesses around, so its not a surprise media is stating the gunmen said nothing prior to shooting the two men.
Click to expand...

The video I watched was pretty grainy. I couldn't make out any witnesses. How close were the witnesses you saw? tia.
 
  • #23
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  • #26
Sure I see what you're saying. It is tough to tell from the video, but to me it looks like he didn't say anything, just ran up behind and fired his weapon. But, I could also see how he may have muttered something to them that nobody else would hear, unless they were within very close proximity to the men and the shooter. However, after watching the video a few times, it appears the men do not even turn around to acknowledge the shooter, which possibly also suggests he did not say a word to them.
 
  • #27
Gun Used To Execute Imam Believed To Be Found, Sources Say
DNAInfo
By Murray Weiss, Noah Hurowitz and Radhika Marya | August 15, 2016 8:16pm

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20...ed-execute-imam-believed-be-found-sources-say

“NEW YORK CITY — Police found a gun and clothes linked to the murder of a Queens imam and his assistant in the home of their prime suspect, sources said Monday night.

Police, who hadn't named the suspect and have not brought charges against him, found a revolver they believe is the murder weapon in the suspect's home, sources said. Law enforcement officials also recovered clothes that match those worn by the suspected shooter in a video that has not officially been released by the NYPD, sources said.​

From another article further down on same page:

“gunman fled the scene in a Chevy Trailblazer but clipped a cyclist, sources said. He got out and confronted the cyclist, pulling a gun on him before getting back in and driving off, sources said.

The cyclist took down the license plate number and police were able to track the owner to his East New York home where he was taken into custody Sunday, sources said.”​
 
  • #28
i.b.nora said:
Gun Used To Execute Imam Believed To Be Found, Sources Say
DNAInfo
By Murray Weiss, Noah Hurowitz and Radhika Marya | August 15, 2016 8:16pm

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20...ed-execute-imam-believed-be-found-sources-say

“NEW YORK CITY — Police found a gun and clothes linked to the murder of a Queens imam and his assistant in the home of their prime suspect, sources said Monday night.

Police, who hadn't named the suspect and have not brought charges against him, found a revolver they believe is the murder weapon in the suspect's home, sources said. Law enforcement officials also recovered clothes that match those worn by the suspected shooter in a video that has not officially been released by the NYPD, sources said.​

From another article further down on same page:

“gunman fled the scene in a Chevy Trailblazer but clipped a cyclist, sources said. He got out and confronted the cyclist, pulling a gun on him before getting back in and driving off, sources said.

The cyclist took down the license plate number and police were able to track the owner to his East New York home where he was taken into custody Sunday, sources said.”​
Click to expand...

Got 'em.
 
  • #29
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  • #31
Heartless; it is all so heartless.
 
  • #32
Of interest to me from The New York Times article linked to above:

Brooklyn Man Charged With Killing Imam and Assistant Near Mosque
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/n...ontentCollection=Trending&pgtype=article&_r=0

“Two days after an imam and his assistant were gunned down after afternoon prayers in Queens, the police said late Monday that a man they had in custody had been charged in the killings.

The man, Oscar Morel of Brooklyn, 35, who was taken into custody late Sunday after the police connected him to a hit and run that occurred about a mile away from the fatal attack, faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the police said.

A police official said investigators had found what they believe was the murder weapon in the man’s home as well as clothes matching the description of what the gunman had been wearing during the shootings. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the gun was found inside a wall in his apartment, on Miller Avenue in the East New York neighborhood, in a cavity that had apparently been cut open and resealed.”​

And

“Investigators believe the gunman followed the two men to the corner of Liberty Avenue and 79th Street and shot each in the back of the head, police officials said.

In surveillance footage captured by cameras nearby, investigators were able to see the assailant get into his car, a black GMC sport utility vehicle, and drive away, soon blending into traffic, Robert K. Boyce, the Police Department’s chief of detectives, told reporters on Monday.

By tracking the make and model of the vehicle, he said, investigators found that the same kind of vehicle had been involved in a hit and run nearby, at the intersection of Pine Street and Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn. Investigators found the car parked on the street in East New York, where they waited for the driver to emerge.

On Sunday night, officials said the man got into the car and rammed into a police vehicle as he tried to flee. The man was arrested in connection with the hit and run and hitting the police vehicle. Chief Boyce said investigators were searching his home on Monday night.

“Because of the evidence so far, we strongly believe this is the individual,” Chief Boyce said.”​
 
  • #33
Although the whole article is good, of special interest to me from The Daily News article linked to above:

Brooklyn man charged with murder for execution-style shootings of Queens imam and friend
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...-imam-friend-charged-murder-article-1.2751802

“Oscar Morel’s landlord said the 35-year-old had moved in seven months ago.

“He had a girlfriend, but he lives alone, he was always very nice. He told me he works cleaning in a school,” said Amado Baptista, 59.”

*

“Ten minutes after the pious men were shot three times total, the driver of the TrailBlazer and a cyclist exchanged words at the intersection of Pine St. and Pitkin Ave. in East New York, police said.

The cyclist then rode away, but the driver pursued and rammed him, cops said.

The hit-and-run occurred 3 miles from the shooting. The cyclist was not seriously hurt, cops said.

Boyce said the same TrailBlazer was used to flee the shooting and hit the cyclist.”

*

“They were identical. We looked at the stickers, the decals, on each of the windshields,” Boyce said.

That match led investigators to Morel’s home.

When detectives approached him after he got into his TrailBlazer at 10 p.m. Sunday, Morel used it as a weapon again, Boyce said.

“He rammed the detectives’ car several times in an effort to get away. He was placed under arrest without any further incident,” Boyce said.

Morel, who has one prior arrest — for misdemeanor pot possession — admitted to having been in Ozone Park, a police source said. But he asked for a lawyer when cops queried him about the killings.

He had no known links to Ozone Park or the Al-Furqan Jame Mosque. The motive remained a mystery.”

*

“Detectives were also working a theory that somebody hired Morel as a hit man.”

*

“Morel was taken from the 107th Precinct stationhouse Monday night wearing a tan uniform shirt with “Oscar” embroidered on it with the words “New School Facilities Management.” He was awaiting arraignment.”​
 
  • #34
This is a great article about the bicycle guy! I wish there were more people like him.

Cyclist Struck By Accused Imam Killer Says Crash Was 'Destiny'
By Katie Honan and Murray Weiss | August 16, 2016 6:12pm

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20...by-accused-imam-killer-says-crash-was-destiny

David Hunter said God, and his custom-made plaid helmet, saved him after he was struck
from behind by Oscar Morel's large SUV on Aug. 13, 2016.​

Witnesses to the crash took down Morel's license plate number, which eventually helped detectives track him down for the murder earlier in the day.

Investigators tracked his SUV to his home in East New York and waited for him to leave a day later, officials said. When police officers first approached him, he again used his car as a weapon, ramming it into an unmarked NYPD car, police said.

After his blue bicycle was hit by the SUV, Hunter was laid out on the asphalt in the near 100-degree weather, in excruciating pain.

"I used to walk like a choreographer, but now I walk like a Muppet," he joked. He was released Sunday from Brookdale Hospital without any broken bones, but he has to walk with a cane for a bit.​
 
  • #35
I'm so glad they found this guy! There's too much hate in this country. It's heartbreaking.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
 
  • #36
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  • #38
Detached but Sympathetic: Prosecutor’s Dual Response to Imam’s Killing
The New York Times
By ALAN FEUER August 19, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/nyregion/queens-imam-oscar-morel.html?_r=0

“In a brief statement this week about the still mysterious murders of a Bangladeshi imam and his assistant, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, captured, perhaps unwittingly, the dueling imperatives a prosecutor faces in a case that strikes at an entire community.

Mr. Brown’s primary task in issuing the statement was to announce that his office was charging Oscar Morel, the man accused in the killings, with first-degree murder, based on the fact that the daylight shooting had caused the deaths of at least two people. But in a more emotive tone, the district attorney also extended his “deepest sympathy” to the families of the victims and then made a promise: He would “work tirelessly to ensure that justice is done.”

New York City’s five district attorneys are never just dispassionate executors of the law. As elected officials who draw their powers — and their paychecks — from the public, they at times assume a more symbolic role: that of the community defender, one who is responsive to, and responsible for, the constituents they serve.”​

Interesting article applicable to lots of cases we encounter here.
 
  • #39
Grand Jury Returns Five-Count Indictment in Killing of Queens Imam and Aide
The New York Times
By RICK ROJAS
AUG. 22, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/nyregion/indictment-in-killing-of-queens-imam.html?_r=0

“A grand jury has returned a five-count indictment, including one for first-degree murder, against the 36-year-old man accused of the execution-style shootings of an imam and his assistant on a Queens street, prosecutors said on Monday.

The man, Oscar Morel, has also been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the Aug. 13 attack in the Ozone Park neighborhood, prosecutors said.

The authorities said that Mr. Morel had approached the imam, Alauddin Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, Thara Miah, 64, from behind, and shot each man in the back of the head. But officials said on Monday that investigators still had not determined the motivation for the attack.

The Queens district attorney’s office said it had upgraded the charges to include the single count of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole, because the episode is believed to have been “the intentional killing of two individuals during the same transaction.”

“The defendant’s alleged actions strike at the very heart of our county’s Muslim community,” the district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said in a statement on Monday. “Both victims were gentle men of peace, and their deaths are a devastating loss to their families and the community that they served.””​

More...

Morel and his attorney are denying all.
 
  • #40
Suspect in NYC imam's killing claims police sketch proves he's innocent
Published August 22, 2016
New York Post

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/2...claims-police-sketch-proves-hes-innocent.html

“There was a photo drawing done of the guy that did the shooting, and in that photo the guy is wearing glasses,” suspect Oscar Morel’s lawyer, Mark Schwed, argued in court Monday.

“[Morel] says he doesn’t own a pair of glasses. He wears contacts, but he hasn’t worn glasses for years.””

*

“Schwed said Morel was in South Ozone Park on Aug. 13 taking his friend to the doctor when he was caught on camera fleeing the murder scene. He claimed it was clear that cops had the wrong guy, simply because the one witness who was asked to do the police lineup was unable to identify him as the killer.”​

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