Prosecutors seek death penalty for man accused of killing 2 USF students from Bangladesh

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of killing two University of South Florida students from Bangladesh will face the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors indicated Friday.

The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office filed a notice to seek the death penalty a day after a grand jury indicted Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, on two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh, disappeared April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh, and Bristy at a campus science building.

Abugharbieh was arrested about a week later and has remained in jail. Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the public defender’s office in Tampa, has said the office wouldn’t comment on Abugharbieh’s case.

Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh’s car and Limon’s phone to the bridge where Limon’s body was found on April 24. Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors. A kayaker found Bristy’s body in nearby water two days later.

When detectives questioned Abugharbieh and another roommate several days after the victims went missing, investigators noticed Abugharbieh’s pinky finger was bandaged, but he denied any involvement with Limon’s disappearance, according to prosecutors.

During an interview with investigators, the suspect’s mother, Haya Abugharbieh, said her son had struggled to manage his anger and had been violent to family members in the past.

When an apartment manager gave investigators access to the apartment, and to Limon’s locked bedroom, the third roommate told detectives Abugharbieh had used a cart overnight on April 16 to move cardboard boxes from his room to the trash compactor. That’s where detectives found Limon’s wallet and campus ID badge, credit card, eyeglasses and clothes that appeared to have blood on them.

Returning with a search warrant, detectives found blood residue leading from the kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, and more blood that soaked his bedroom carpet. In Limon’s bedroom, they found Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards.