Afghan refugee pleads no contest to 2 murders in case that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Afghan refugee convicted of premeditated murder in one of three deadly shootings in 2022 that shocked Albuquerque’s Muslim community pleaded no contest Tuesday to two counts of manslaughter stemming from the other killings.

Prosecutors say Muhammad Syed, 53, has two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and Naeem Hussain.

A jury had already convicted Syed in March of the July 2022 gunshot death of Aftab Hussein, 41.

The three ambush-style killings occurred over the course of several days, sending authorities scrambling to determine whether race or religion was behind the shootings. Investigators quickly moved from possible hate crimes to what prosecutors called the “deliberate and highly deliberate” actions of another member of the Muslim community.

Syed, who had settled in the US with his family a few years earlier, denied involvement in the killings after being stopped more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Albuquerque. He told authorities he was traveling to Texas to find a new home for his family, and said he was concerned about the killings in Albuquerque.

Bernalillo County prosecutors said Syed will receive a life sentence for the murder of Aftab Hussein and serve 30 years behind bars for the no-contest pleas. No sentencing date has been set.

According to authorities, Afzaal Hussain, an urban planner, was shot on August 1, 2022, while he was out for an evening walk. Naeem Hussain was shot four days later as he sat in his vehicle outside a refugee resettlement office on the city’s south side.

After Syed’s conviction in March, prosecutors acknowledged that there was no trial testimony or court documents that indicated a possible motive. Prosecutors had described him as someone who a violent historybut his public defenders argued that previous allegations of domestic violence had never led to convictions.

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This story has been updated to remove Aftab Hussein’s incorrect background.