Prosecutors have revealed new evidence in the murder of a Florida doctoral student whose body was found last week on a bridge in Tampa Bay, including a chronology of events surrounding the death of Zamil Limon and the disappearance of his close friend, graduate student Nahida Bristy.
Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, was charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder with a weapon in the deaths of the students, both 27 years old.
Bristy remains missing as authorities work to identify other remains found south of the bridge Sunday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators are seeking vehicle dashcam video from anyone who drove on the Howard Frankland Bridge on April 17 between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.
The post includes video of police officers on a boat near a bridge during an apparent search.
Abugharbieh, 26, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for an evidentiary hearing, according to court documents.
He was initially expected to appear for a pretrial detention hearing, but that was postponed pending discussions about the pretrial hearing, court documents show.
The Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office said it was assigned to the case but declined to share details, citing Abugharbieh’s right to a fair trial.
Limon, a Bangladeshi student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, was killed by “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to a document filed Saturday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court and released Sunday.
Prosecutors asked that Abugharbieh remain jailed until trial due to the brutal nature of the alleged crimes, according to a motion for pretrial detention.
Limon’s death was ruled a homicide, the petition states, citing a coroner’s report that found a deep stab wound to his lower back, which struck his liver, among other injuries.
“The brutal and violent nature of the crime, in which the victims were killed by the defendant, establishes a likelihood of danger to the safety of the community should his release result from his release,” the petition says. “No condition of release will reasonably protect the community from the risk of physical harm.”
Limon’s body was found Friday in the northbound lane of the Howard Frankland Bridge, the petition states, adding that “Bristy is believed to have been disposed of in a similar manner to (Zamil) Limon.”
Investigators have told Bristy’s family in Bangladesh they believe she may be dead, based on the amount of blood found in the Tampa-area apartment Limon and the suspect shared, her brother told the news affiliate. CNNWTSP.
Limon had only lived in the apartment for two months, his younger brother, Zubaer Ahmed, told CNN.
He “often told us that (Abugharbieh) was a horrible, unpleasant, antisocial person,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said he heard that his brother filed a complaint against Abugharbieh with the management of the condominium where they live about two weeks ago. THE CNN contacted the condominium to obtain a position.
Among other allegations, prosecutors say Abugharbieh asked an artificial intelligence chatbot a series of questions — including about how to place a body in a dumpster — in the days leading up to Limon and Bristy’s disappearance.
He also ordered duct tape, trash bags, lighter fluid, a fire starter and charcoal in the week before the murders, and a purchase confirmation showed that a fake beard had been shipped from Amazon on April 15, according to an affidavit in a police report.
“What happens if a human being is put in a black trash bag and thrown into a dumpster?” Abugharbieh asked the chatbot on April 13, three days before the two were last seen, according to the petition.
The chatbot responded that it looked dangerous, the petition states, before Abugharbieh sent another message: “How would they find out?”
On April 15, Abugharbieh asked the artificial intelligence whether he could legally keep a gun at home without a license and whether a car’s registration number could be changed, the affidavit states.
In the days following the murders, the searches continued. On April 19, Abugharbieh asked, “Was there anyone who survived a sniper shot to the head?”, “Will my neighbors hear my shot?” and “Is there a water temperature that burns immediately?” the affidavit states.
On April 23, he searched: “What does endangered missing adult mean?”, according to the document.
The suspect’s version changes as investigators gather evidence.
Both Bangladeshi doctoral students, Limon and Bristy, were last seen or heard from on April 16 and were reported missing the next day, the petition shows.
Abugharbieh told Hillsborough County sheriff’s detectives that he had not seen the two that day, according to the affidavit.
In a later interrogation, Abugharbieh initially told detectives that the two “had never been in his vehicle nor had he been to Clearwater,” a city on the other side of Tampa Bay, according to the petition.
When confronted about the presence of his vehicle in Clearwater, he said he went there to look for fishing spots and that he had deleted its location history, according to the affidavit.
When confronted about Limon’s cellphone also emitting signals in Clearwater, Abugharbieh changed his story again, telling detectives that Limon had asked to be driven with his girlfriend to Clearwater, the affidavit states.
During these interrogations, the little finger on Abugharbieh’s left hand was bandaged, an injury he later said he inflicted on himself while chopping onions, according to the petition.
He said he initially covered the wound with tape and toilet paper. Detectives also observed a fresh cut on the upper left arm and other cuts on both legs, according to the document.
According to the affidavit, investigators noticed a request made around 10:24 pm on April 16, on Abugharbieh’s cell phone, to purchase items from a pharmacy, including trash bags, baby wipes and cleaning products. The order was delivered to the apartment door at around 10:57 pm, according to the process.
Another roommate reported to investigators that he saw Abugharbieh use a shopping cart between the end of the 16th and the beginning of April 17th to transport cardboard boxes from his room to a compacted trash container in the condominium.
According to the affidavit, Abugharbieh’s cellphone data shows he made two separate trips to the Howard Frankland Bridge in the early morning hours of April 17.
Investigators later recovered items belonging to Limon from the dumpster, including a student ID, credit cards and glasses similar to those he wore.
A gray shirt and a black rug, similar to those that were missing from the apartment’s common kitchen area, were also found, according to the petition.
Items recovered from the dumpster tested positive for blood, and later laboratory tests linked profiles obtained from the gray shirt to Limon and the rug to Bristy, according to the petition.
An enhancing agent applied to the apartment revealed a broad pattern of blood from the foyer, through the kitchen, down the hallway and toward Abugharbieh’s bedroom, according to the affidavit.
In his room, investigators found “two distinct patterns on the floor that appeared to be relatively human-shaped,” embedded in the carpet, with patterns consistent with stains and scuffs, the document states.
Bristy’s sneakers and umbrella — consistent with what she was seen wearing and carrying in campus surveillance footage the day she disappeared — were found in Limon’s room, along with a wallet containing her college ID and credit cards, the affidavit states.
The statement concludes: “No evidence was discovered during the course of the investigation that supports any likelihood that Nahida Bristy is still alive.”
What happens to the suspect now?
In addition to the two counts of premeditated first-degree murder with the use of a weapon, Abugharbieh faces charges of illegal removal of a corpse, failure to provide assistance with intent to conceal death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and assault, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
“This is a deeply disturbing case that has shaken our community and impacted many who hoped for a peaceful resolution,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement Friday.
Abugharbieh was arrested Friday morning at a home in Lutz, Florida, after police responded to a report of domestic violence involving a family member, the sheriff’s office said.
He was also charged in that case with assault and false imprisonment. The two counts of first-degree murder were added later that night via an arrest warrant, court records show.
The Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office said in a statement, “We remain focused on representing our client throughout the legal process.”
Abugharbieh appeared before the court for the first time on Saturday morning.
This story has been updated to remove a word about the suspect that, according to Zamil Limon’s brother, did not match what Limon had told him.
(With information from Karina Tsui and Isabel Rosales, from CNN)
