Shaheen Syed, son of Muhammad Syed, faces federal charges of knowingly making false statements to investigators about the weapons and vehicle allegedly used in at least two of the killings.
During a detention hearing Monday, Judge John Robbenhaar decided there was enough evidence to keep Syed in custody, according to Scott Howell, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Syed’s attorney, John C. Anderson, called allegations that his client might be connected to the killings “extremely thin and speculative.”
The murders took place between November 2021 and August this year, with the last three taking place within two weeks. Mohammad Ahmadi was the first victim in November 2021, followed by Aftab Hussain on 26 July, Muhammad Afzal Hussain on 1 August and the death of Naeem Hussain on 5 August. All the victims were of South Asian origin.
The elder Syed is being held on murder charges for two murders and is the prime suspect in the other two deaths. Muhammad Syed denied involvement in the killings during an interview with police, according to an arrest affidavit.
In a detention request filed on Friday, prosecutors outlined how Shaheen Syed – also known as Maiwand Syed – is a “flight risk and a serious danger to the community”. The motion cites alleged false information Syed told investigators when questioned about the shootings, whether he bought guns with his father and whether he was in the alleged vehicle at the time of said gun purchases.
Although he initially claimed he was not in the Volkswagen Jetta at the time of the purchase, investigators found that Syed and his father went to an Albuquerque gun store on July 15 and took two handguns, a handgun and a rifle, according to the request. “Officers located both firearms when a search warrant was recently executed at the defendant’s home, and both firearms were partially painted white,” the motion reads.
Investigators also determined Syed knowingly entered a false address in Florida when he purchased a rifle on June 9, 2021, the motion said.
Investigators also analyzed cell tower data and found that both Syed and his father’s phones were in the general area of Naeem Hussain’s killing on August 5. “There appears to be no logical reason why the defendant should have happened to be in the vicinity of the murder scene so soon after Mr. Hussain was killed,” the motion states.
Anderson, Syed’s attorney, said in a written response, “If the United States or the state of New Mexico has sufficient evidence to charge the defendant with a more serious crime, they certainly have the right to do so. But in the absence of evidence sufficient even to charge the defendant with complicity in these murders, he cannot be held on that ground.”
The arraignment for Syed’s father, Muhammad Syed, was postponed until Wednesday as the case was moved from Bernalillo County City Court to Circuit Court.
Muhammad Syed is expected to appear for a detention hearing Wednesday afternoon. He is charged with murder for the July 26 killing of Aftab Hussain and the August 1 killing of Muhammad Afzal Hussain.
CNN’s Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.
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