Syed enters plea to two counts of second-degree murder, but questions remain

Muhammad Atif Syed entered pleas to two murder charges Tuesday at a hearing that provided little insight into his motives for a string of killings that rocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community in 2022.

Syed, 53, pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder in the August 2022 shooting deaths of Naeem Hussein, 25, and Mohammud Afzaal Hussain, 27.

Syed was convicted by a jury in March of first-degree murder in the July 26, 2022, shooting death of 41-year-old Aftab Hussein.

That conviction requires Syed to serve 30 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, meaning he will remain incarcerated until he is about 83 years old.

Second Judicial District Judge Britt Baca said she will schedule Syed’s sentencing hearing within 60 days.

The brother of Mohammud Afzaal Hussain said after the hearing Tuesday that he does not regret that Syed will not face trial for his brother’s shooting death.

“My only disappointment is that I don’t know why it happened,” Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain said of his brother’s killing on Aug. 1, 2022.

A plea agreement Syed reached with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office calls for Syed to serve 15 years for each count of second-degree murder, for a total commitment of 30 years.

But the plea deal also allows Syed to serve those sentences concurrently with the 30 years he must serve from his first-degree murder conviction in March.

Syed, who immigrated from Afghanistan, spoke in Pashto through an online translator. He said little during the hearing but asked the judge to reach a decision that is “just and fair.”

Syed was arrested in August 2022 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The killings sparked fears that a serial killer was targeting Muslim men in Albuquerque.

The shooting deaths garnered national media attention and a condemnation from President Joe Biden.

Syed had been scheduled to begin trial Tuesday in Hussain’s death. That trial was canceled last week after Syed reached the plea agreement. Baca scheduled the plea hearing in place of the trial.

Syed’s attorney, Thomas Clark, said Tuesday that answers are unlikely to emerge either into Syed’s motives.

“There’s never going to be an explanation,” Clark said after the hearing. Nor is it likely that new information will surface about Syed’s background in his native Afghanistan.

“He was an air conditioning repairman in the Green Zone,” Clark said, referring to the governmental headquarters in Kabul during the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Syed also served in the Afghani army “for a short time,” Clark said. Clark said he has not had access to Syed’s military records.

Syed was arrested near Santa Rosa on Aug. 9, 2022, driving a Volkswagen Jetta east on Interstate 40 toward Texas.

At his trial in March in Aftab Hussein’s death on July 26, 2022, prosecutors offered little to indicate Syed’s motive for the killing.

Prosecutor David Waymire said after the trial that the state was prohibited from introducing evidence to the jury about Syed’s background in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors allege that Syed hid in bushes outside Aftab Hussein’s home and fired at least nine shots from a high-powered AK-47 rifle, killing Hussein moments after he arrived home around 10 p.m.

Syed’s attorneys told jurors that at least four other adults in Syed’s household had access to firearms and could have fired the fatal shots.