The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office filed a notice to seek the death penalty Friday for Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, a day after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of first-degree murder and several additional charges. The filing marks the latest development in the investigation into the deaths of two University of South Florida doctoral students who vanished in mid-April.
Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27 and from Bangladesh, disappeared from their separate campus-area locations on April 16. Limon was last seen at an off-campus apartment complex he shared with Abugharbieh, while Bristy was last seen at a campus science building.
Detectives located Limon’s body April 24 on a bridge after tracing cellphone location data and license plate reader information to Abugharbieh’s vehicle and Limon’s phone. A prosecutor’s report filed in court states Limon suffered numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound. A kayaker discovered Bristy’s body in nearby water two days later.
Investigators arrested Abugharbieh roughly a week after the students vanished. He remains in jail. Jennifer Spradley, an attorney in the Tampa public defender’s office, said the office would not comment on the case.
Evidence gathered from the apartment complex ties Abugharbieh to the victims’ final movements. A third roommate told detectives that Abugharbieh used a cart overnight on April 16 to move cardboard boxes from his room to a trash compactor. Detectives recovered Limon’s wallet, campus ID badge, credit card, eyeglasses and blood-stained clothes from the compactor.
Police returned with a search warrant and documented blood residue trailing from the apartment’s kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, along with blood-soaked carpeting in his room. Investigators also recovered Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards from inside Limon’s locked bedroom.
During an interview with investigators several days after the disappearances, detectives observed a bandaged pinky finger on Abugharbieh. He denied involvement in Limon’s disappearance at that time. Haya Abugharbieh, the suspect’s mother, told investigators her son had previously struggled to manage his anger and had been violent toward family members.