Roommate accused in planned double murder case

Two Bangladeshi students, Jamil Ahmed Limon and Nahida Sultana Brishti, who were PhD students at the University of South Florida (USF), were killed in a planned attack. Police said Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbiya, carried out the killings.

Police recovered parts of Limon’s body, while Brishti remains missing.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that the case is being investigated as a double murder. Twenty-six-year-old Hisham Abugharbiya, Limon’s roommate, faces two counts of first-degree murder for the alleged planned killings of Limon and Brishti, based on evidence submitted to the State Attorney’s Office.

Police confirmed that they recovered Limon’s remains on Friday morning (local time) from the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Bay. However, Brishti has not yet been found. As of Saturday morning, rescue teams continued searching the surrounding areas of the bridge for her.

Authorities have also charged Abugharbiya with additional offenses, including destruction of evidence, unlawful restraint, removal of a corpse, concealing a death, and physical assault.

Police said they first encountered Abugharbiya while investigating a domestic violence complaint at a house near the campus area. Officers found him barricaded inside a room. He later surrendered when a SWAT team arrived at the scene.

Investigators have not disclosed how the two Bangladeshi students were killed or what the motive behind the crime was. They said key details remain withheld to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Limon was a PhD student in Geography and Environmental Science. He was last seen on April 16 at 9 a.m. at his residence on Avalon Heights Boulevard. His remains were recovered from the Howard Frankland Bridge on Friday morning.

Brishti was a PhD student in Chemical Engineering. She was last seen on April 16 at 10 a.m. in front of the NES Building on the USF Tampa campus. A family friend reported the pair missing to police on April 17 in the afternoon after failing to contact them.

Search operations for Brishti are still ongoing. Authorities said Abugharbiya will be presented before court once formal proceedings begin. They have also urged anyone with information about Brishti’s whereabouts to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Who is Abugharbiya?

According to Newsweek, Hisham Abugharbiya is a U.S. citizen and a former student of the University of South Florida University of South Florida. He studied Management from 2021 to 2023. Records show multiple indications of past violent behavior.

Court documents from Hillsborough County indicate that Abugharbiya had a prior criminal history. In May and September 2023, he was charged with assault and burglary of an unoccupied residence. These were treated as misdemeanors at the time. However, family members had already expressed concerns about his behavior.

Due to his violent conduct, a family member had filed two domestic violence injunction requests against him. The court granted one of those protective orders. He also faces multiple allegations of traffic law violations.

Hours after Limon’s remains were recovered on Friday, police received an emergency call from Abugharbiya’s residence. Officers arrived at the scene and arrested him with the assistance of a SWAT team.