Defense: No evidence ties Syed to fatal shooting

An attorney for a man charged in the shooting deaths of three Muslim men in 2022 told jurors Tuesday that other members of Muhammad Syed’s family had access to a weapon at the center of his murder trial.

Testimony began Tuesday in Syed’s trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of Aftab Hussein, 41, on July 26, 2022.

Thomas Clark, Syed’s attorney, said in opening statements that at least four other members of Syed’s household may have fired the AK-47 rifle that prosecutors allege was used to kill Hussein.

“You are not going to hear one shred of evidence that actually puts this rifle in the hands of Muhammad Syed on the night of this killing,” said Clark, pointing at the rifle that prosecutors showed jurors.

Prosecutors allege that Syed, 53, hid in bushes outside Hussein’s home and fired at least nine gunshots from the military-style rifle, killing Hussein shortly after he arrived home around 10 p.m.

“Living in my client’s home are a number of individuals,” Clark told jurors. “All of them had access to this rifle. And at least four other adults all know how to use a rifle, all know how to pull a trigger, all have a motive.”

Neither defense nor prosecution attorneys spoke of a possible motive for the killing.

The shooting deaths of Hussein and three other Muslim men in late 2021 and 2022 stoked fears in Albuquerque’s Muslim community that a serial killer was targeting Islamic men. The killings garnered national media attention and were condemned by President Joe Biden.

Syed has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of three men in July and August 2022. He will be tried separately in the other two killings.

The 2nd Judicial District Court trial is scheduled to continue through March 21 before Judge Britt Baca-Miller.

Assistant District Attorney David Waymire said in opening statements that Syed was lying in wait with an AK-47 rifle when Hussein arrived home in his car.

“Mr. Syed was hiding nearby, approximately 20 to 25 feet away behind a wall in some bushes, and had a very clear view of Mr. Aftab Hussein as he got out of his vehicle,” Waymire told jurors.

Albuquerque police officers nearby heard the gunshots and arrived quickly to find Hussein dead at the scene, Waymire said. Crime scene investigators found nine shell casings at the scene, he said.

Waymire showed jurors a black AK-47 rifle that he said Syed purchased at BMC Tactical, an Albuquerque gun store, on July 15, 2022, “11 days before he used it to kill Aftab Hussein.”

After Syed’s arrest, officers searched Syed’s home and found the AK-47 rifle used in Hussein’s killing under Syed’s bed, Waymire said.

Firearms experts also evaluated the spent rounds found at the scene and determined that the bullets were fired by the rifle recovered at Syed’s home, Waymire said.

“All the (rounds) that had value to compare that were found in and around Mr. Hussein’s body and vehicle, those all came back again to Muhammad Syed’s AK-47,” Waymire told jurors.

Police also obtained cellphone records from Syed’s phone showing that his phone was in the vicinity of Hussain’s residence between 15 and 30 minutes before the killing.

Waymire also told jurors that investigators found a note on Syed’s cellphone in which he discussed Hussain’s killing and “testing” his AK-47 rifle.

“In the note section, where you or I might put a grocery list or to-do list, there is actually a typed note that the defendant put in there about killing Aftab Hussein,” Waymire said.

The note was written at 9:50 p.m. on July 26, 2022, about 12 minutes before Hussein’s killing, he said.

Hussein and his car were sprayed with numerous rounds of gunfire, witnesses testified Tuesday.

Hussein was struck by 11 gunshots, Office of the Medical Examiner pathologist Audra Kerwin testified. All but one of those gunshots exited his body, but one bullet was found in Hussein’s bladder, she said.

Bullets struck Hussein in his head, neck, shoulder, body arms and legs, Kerwin said.

In addition, numerous gunshots and fragments struck Hussein’s car, witnesses testified.

Syed was arrested on Aug. 9, 2022, while driving a Volkswagen Jetta east on Interstate 40 toward Texas. He was charged with open counts of murder in two shooting deaths — those of Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, on Aug. 1, 2022.

Later that month, a grand jury indicted Syed on three counts of first-degree murder, adding the Aug. 5, 2022, shooting death of Naeem Hussain, 25.

Police and prosecutors said at the time they were investigating Syed as a suspect in a fourth killing, that of Muhammad Ahmadi, 62.

Ahmadi was found shot to death on Nov. 2, 2021, behind an Albuquerque market he owned with his brother. Syed has not been charged with Ahmadi’s killing.