Police believe the son of the prime suspect in the killings of four Muslim men may have played a role in the murders, which have shaken the American Muslim community in New Mexico’s largest city.
Cellphone data shows Shaheen Syed, 21, was in the same “general area” of Albuquerque as his father at the time of the August 5 killing of 25-year-old trucking entrepreneur Naeem Hussain, according to a filing by federal prosecutors for a Monday detention hearing during which Shaheen was denied bail.
His attorney John Anderson said the allegations were “exceedingly thin and speculative”. Police last week charged Shaheen’s father, Muhammad Syed, 51, with two of the murders and linked the four killings to personal grudges, possibly fueled by intra-Muslim sectarian hatred.
Shaheen was arrested last week on federal fire-arms charges for providing a false address. “Law enforcement officers also have recently discovered evidence that appears to tie the defendant, Shaheen Syed, to these killings,” the filing said.
Agents believe Shaheen observed Naeem leaving an Aug 5 funeral service for two of the murdered Muslim men, based on FBI analysis of cell tower data. He then followed him to the area of a parking lot where Naeem was shot dead.—Reuters
