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

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Prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, filed a notice seeking the death penalty for Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, a man accused of killing two University of South Florida doctoral students from Bangladesh, according to court filings and prosecutors’ statements. The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office submitted the notice a day after a grand jury indicted Abugharbieh on two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.

Abugharbieh, 26, has remained in jail since his arrest about a week after the students disappeared, prosecutors said. Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy were both 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh, and they vanished on April 16, the state said in seeking the death penalty.

Prosecutors said Limon was last seen at the off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh. They said Bristy was last seen at a campus science building, and that detectives later found evidence connected to the case at the apartment after investigators were able to obtain access there.

In the investigation, detectives used cellphone location information and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh’s car and Limon’s phone to a bridge where Limon’s body was found on April 24, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound.

Prosecutors said a kayaker found Bristy’s body in nearby water two days later. They said that, according to a report filed by prosecutors, Bristy’s disappearance and death were linked to the same case that led to Abugharbieh’s arrest and subsequent charges.

When detectives questioned Abugharbieh and another roommate several days after the victims went missing, prosecutors said they noticed Abugharbieh’s pinky finger was bandaged. Prosecutors said Abugharbieh denied any involvement in Limon’s disappearance.

The case’s next procedural steps include the prosecution’s effort to pursue the death penalty at trial, but Abugharbieh’s defense has not publicly commented on the litigation. Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the public defender’s office in Tampa, told reporters that her office would not comment on Abugharbieh’s case.

Prosecutors also described what investigators found after getting a search warrant for the apartment and Limon’s locked bedroom. They said a third roommate told detectives Abugharbieh used a cart overnight on April 16 to move cardboard boxes from his room to the trash compactor, where investigators found Limon’s wallet and campus ID badge, credit card, eyeglasses and clothes with blood on them.

According to prosecutors, investigators later found blood residue leading from the kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, as well as additional blood that soaked the bedroom carpet. Prosecutors said that in Limon’s bedroom, investigators found Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards.

During the investigation, prosecutors said they also interviewed Abugharbieh’s mother, Haya Abugharbieh, who told investigators her son had struggled to manage his anger and had been violent to family members in the past, prosecutors said.