Suspect Charged In Slayings Of Queens Imam, Associate Held Without Bail
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man arrested in connection with the murders of a Queens imam and his associate is being held without bail after facing a judge on Tuesday.
Oscar Morel, 35, was charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Morel pleaded not guilty.
He was ordered held without bail.
If convicted, Morel faces up to life in prison without parole.
"While the motivation for this violent act is still unclear and continues to be investigated, one of the possible motives being explored is whether this was a hate crime," Brown said in a statement. "Crimes motivated by bias or hate are deplorable and can never be tolerated. Regardless, however, whether a hate crime was committed in this case, the crime will be vigorously prosecuted and we will seek the most serious penalties that our law allows."
Outside the courthouse, the imam's son, Saif Akonjee, expressed his thoughts about seeing his father's accused murder.
"I want to know why he wanted to kill him," he told WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini.
Police said Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin were killed near the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Ozone Park Saturday afternoon.
The two men were walking home from the mosque when authorities said Morel came up from behind at the intersection of 79th Street and Liberty Avenue and fired multiple rounds, shooting both victims in the head.
They were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead.
CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported prosecutors said Morel admitted he is the person seen on surveillance video that connected him to the murders.
Officers took Morel into custody late Sunday night outside a Brooklyn apartment as he approached a vehicle that police had linked to an unrelated hit-and-run and that matched the description of the shooting suspect's getaway vehicle.
"Detectives from the Fugitive Task Force Unit approached the car, and then he rammed the detectives' car several times in an effort to get away,'' said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. "He was placed under arrest without any further incident and brought back to the precinct for more debriefing.''
Boyce said Morel was seen on surveillance video fleeing the area of the shooting in a black GMC Trailblazer. About 10 minutes later, a car matching that description struck a bicyclist nearby in Brooklyn.
"We looked at the two cars and they were identical. we looked at stickers and decals on each of the windshields, and they seemed identical," Boyce said.
Morel initially was charged in connection with the hit-and-run, but those charges were upgraded Monday night after police said they recovered a revolver at his Brooklyn home and clothes similar to those worn by the gunman in the surveillance video.
Prosecutors said ballistic evidence proved it was the weapon used in the deadly shooting.
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, the victim in the hit-and-run may have helped police catch Morel.
David Hunter walks with a cane after Morel allegedly struck his bicycle. Hunter said the driver clipped his back tire and threw him to the ground.
Hunter said he clearly remembers the driver behind the wheel.
"His face, his eyes, his skin -- everything in his face, in his, you know, had a sign that this person is not under control," Hunter said.
Hunter said the driver had grown agitated at a traffic light and tried to go around a car, but grew angry as Hunter slowly cross the street.
"We hear somebody you know, curse; exchange bad words," Hunter said.
Hunter said the driver first drove away, but then circled back around and headed straight for him, knocking him off his bicycle.
"He come fast, fast, fast, you know – then he make three-point turn and then he come toward me like a thunder," Hunter said. "He looked like somebody abnormal. He looked like somebody crazy."
The car did not stop, but Hunter was able to give police a partial license plate number. Police tracked down the driver, who allegedly turned out to be Morel.
Hunter said he is thankful he survived and that he was able to help police, but he does not understand Morel's motivation for the violence.
"Everybody have a problem, so why he judge people; why he judge?" Hunter said. "That's not good. We are all equal. This is a free land and we are all free."
Meanwhile, police have not classified the murders of the imam and his associate as a hate crime. Uddin's brother and the Muslim community want to know why.
"Two people he killed at one time," Mashuk Uddin said. "What's the reason? We do not find the reason. Only reason we find it, that's the hate crime."
The victims' families said it was difficult to be in the presence of the man accused of killing Akonjee and Thara Uddin.
The district attorney's office said investigators are still trying to determine what motivated these killings, including the possibility that this was a hate crime.
Meanwhile, grieving family members would like to see Morel face the ultimate punishment.
"I wish they had the death penalty in New York City," the imam's son-in-law, Momim Ahmed, told CBS2's Magdalena Doris.
As the imam's family prepares to bury him in their home country of Bangladesh, they fear they'll never know the reason behind the attack.
"The cops said he acted individually. Why he shoot them? To me it's targeted," Ahmed said.
On Monday, about 1,000 people gathered at an Islamic funeral service for Akonjee, 55, and Uddin, 64, where emotions ran high.
The ceremony featured several speakers who said they believed the victims were targeted because of their religion. Some members of the congregation shouted, "Justice!'' periodically throughout the service.
"Two people just got murdered and NYPD saying this might not be a hate crime," mourner Muhammad Ali said. "I would like to ask NYPD, what is it then? Somebody comes from behind and shoot you for no reason. Come on, this is common sense."
Despite the arrest, friends said they are uneasy walking the neighborhood in their traditional Muslim garb.
"I'm worried, I'm scared," friend Monir Chowdhury said. "I'm scared to go in mosque now."
The imam's family says no matter the outcome of the case, their lives are forever changed.
"It's a broken house," Ahmed said.
Brown said the men's deaths "are a devastating loss to their families and the community that they served as men of peace."
"I want to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of Imam Maulana Akonjee and Thara Uddin and assure them that the law enforcement community will work tirelessly to ensure that justice is done in this case," he said.
Some in the largely Bangladeshi Muslim community in Queens and Brooklyn have described harassment in recent months by people who shouted anti-Muslim epithets.
Boyce said Morel may have worked in a warehouse in East New York, Brooklyn, but he wouldn't comment any further on his background or mental state.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
