Brooklyn man charged with murder for execution-style shootings of Queens imam and friend
Source: New York Daily News
Cops searching the home of a man suspected of gunning down a Queens imam and his friend, found a revolver and clothes Monday that matched what the shooter wore in a video of the attack, sources said.
The discovery led to second-degree murder charges against 35-year-old Oscar Morel, in a shooting carried out execution-style Saturday, in the heat of a summer afternoon, police said.
Morel, who lives in a basement apartment in East New York, Brooklyn, and is believed to work in a food supply warehouse or a restaurant in the area, was spotted on surveillance footage in Ozone Park around the time of the brazen shooting, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
Police said witnesses saw his black Chevy TrailBlazer flee the scene of the shooting.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/killer-queens-imam-friend-charged-murder-article-1.2751802
still_one
(92,241 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,743 posts)In my state (MN) they charge 2nd degree murder by complaint and then if there's evidence to support 1st degree murder they increase the charge by indictment. So I'm guessing it's just a procedural thing and the charge will change after the perp's first court appearance.
still_one
(92,241 posts)Journeyman
(15,036 posts)I remember being surprised when John Lennon was gunned down that it was not a first degree murder charge. I may have this all incorrect. I haven't read anything about such crimes since Lennon's murder. But that's what I remember from some 35 years ago.
Granny M
(1,395 posts)I think you're right about that New York Law. I'm sure someone here at DU will fill us in if we're mistaken.
rug
(82,333 posts)A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when:
1. With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the
death of such person or of a third person; and
(a) Either:
(i) the intended victim was a police officer as defined in subdivision
34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law who was at the time of
the killing engaged in the course of performing his official duties, and
the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the intended
victim was a police officer; or
(ii) the intended victim was a peace officer as defined in paragraph a
of subdivision twenty-one, subdivision twenty-three, twenty-four or
sixty-two (employees of the division for youth) of section 2.10 of the
criminal procedure law who was at the time of the killing engaged in the
course of performing his official duties, and the defendant knew or
reasonably should have known that the intended victim was such a
uniformed court officer, parole officer, probation officer, or employee
of the division for youth; or
(ii-a) the intended victim was a firefighter, emergency medical
technician, ambulance driver, paramedic, physician or registered nurse
involved in a first response team, or any other individual who, in the
course of official duties, performs emergency response activities and
was engaged in such activities at the time of killing and the defendant
knew or reasonably should have known that the intended victim was such
firefighter, emergency medical technician, ambulance driver, paramedic,
physician or registered nurse; or
(iii) the intended victim was an employee of a state correctional
institution or was an employee of a local correctional facility as
defined in subdivision two of section forty of the correction law, who
was at the time of the killing engaged in the course of performing his
official duties, and the defendant knew or reasonably should have known
that the intended victim was an employee of a state correctional
institution or a local correctional facility; or
(iv) at the time of the commission of the killing, the defendant was
confined in a state correctional institution or was otherwise in custody
upon a sentence for the term of his natural life, or upon a sentence
commuted to one of natural life, or upon a sentence for an indeterminate
term the minimum of which was at least fifteen years and the maximum of
which was natural life, or at the time of the commission of the killing,
the defendant had escaped from such confinement or custody while serving
such a sentence and had not yet been returned to such confinement or
custody; or
(v) the intended victim was a witness to a crime committed on a prior
occasion and the death was caused for the purpose of preventing the
intended victim's testimony in any criminal action or proceeding whether
or not such action or proceeding had been commenced, or the intended
victim had previously testified in a criminal action or proceeding and
the killing was committed for the purpose of exacting retribution for
such prior testimony, or the intended victim was an immediate family
member of a witness to a crime committed on a prior occasion and the
killing was committed for the purpose of preventing or influencing the
testimony of such witness, or the intended victim was an immediate
family member of a witness who had previously testified in a criminal
action or proceeding and the killing was committed for the purpose of
exacting retribution upon such witness for such prior testimony. As used
in this subparagraph "immediate family member" means a husband, wife,
father, mother, daughter, son, brother, sister, stepparent, grandparent,
stepchild or grandchild; or
(vi) the defendant committed the killing or procured commission of the
killing pursuant to an agreement with a person other than the intended
victim to commit the same for the receipt, or in expectation of the
receipt, of anything of pecuniary value from a party to the agreement or
from a person other than the intended victim acting at the direction of
a party to such agreement; or
(vii) the victim was killed while the defendant was in the course of
committing or attempting to commit and in furtherance of robbery,
burglary in the first degree or second degree, kidnapping in the first
degree, arson in the first degree or second degree, rape in the first
degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the
first degree, aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree or escape in
the first degree, or in the course of and furtherance of immediate
flight after committing or attempting to commit any such crime or in the
course of and furtherance of immediate flight after attempting to commit
the crime of murder in the second degree; provided however, the victim
is not a participant in one of the aforementioned crimes and, provided
further that, unless the defendant's criminal liability under this
subparagraph is based upon the defendant having commanded another person
to cause the death of the victim or intended victim pursuant to section
20.00 of this chapter, this subparagraph shall not apply where the
defendant's criminal liability is based upon the conduct of another
pursuant to section 20.00 of this chapter; or
(viii) as part of the same criminal transaction, the defendant, with
intent to cause serious physical injury to or the death of an additional
person or persons, causes the death of an additional person or persons;
provided, however, the victim is not a participant in the criminal
transaction; or
(ix) prior to committing the killing, the defendant had been convicted
of murder as defined in this section or section 125.25 of this article,
or had been convicted in another jurisdiction of an offense which, if
committed in this state, would constitute a violation of either of such
sections; or
(x) the defendant acted in an especially cruel and wanton manner
pursuant to a course of conduct intended to inflict and inflicting
torture upon the victim prior to the victim's death. As used in this
subparagraph, "torture" means the intentional and depraved infliction of
extreme physical pain; "depraved" means the defendant relished the
infliction of extreme physical pain upon the victim evidencing
debasement or perversion or that the defendant evidenced a sense of
pleasure in the infliction of extreme physical pain; or
(xi) the defendant intentionally caused the death of two or more
additional persons within the state in separate criminal transactions
within a period of twenty-four months when committed in a similar
fashion or pursuant to a common scheme or plan; or
(xii) the intended victim was a judge as defined in subdivision
twenty-three of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law and the
defendant killed such victim because such victim was, at the time of the
killing, a judge; or
(xiii) the victim was killed in furtherance of an act of terrorism, as
defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 490.05 of this
chapter; and
(b) The defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the
commission of the crime.
2. In any prosecution under subdivision one, it is an affirmative
defense that:
(a) The defendant acted under the influence of extreme emotional
disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the
reasonableness of which is to be determined from the viewpoint of a
person in the defendant's situation under the circumstances as the
defendant believed them to be. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall
constitute a defense to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of,
manslaughter in the first degree or any other crime except murder in the
second degree; or
(b) The defendant's conduct consisted of causing or aiding, without
the use of duress or deception, another person to commit suicide.
Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense to a
prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter in the second
degree or any other crime except murder in the second degree.
Murder in the first degree is a class A-I felony.
The fact that he's not charged under the terrorism section deflates the trump angle.
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)Person 2713
(3,263 posts)middle of the day near a house of worship.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Read the NY Post writeup:
http://nypost.com/2016/08/15/man-charged-with-murder-for-executing-imam-assistant/
The man accused of fatally shooting an imam and his aide execution-style on a Queens street developed a hatred of Muslims after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the suspects brother told The Post.
The only time we ever felt anything was 9/11, Alvin Morel said. We felt that same anger. We all had a hatred.
Oscar Morel, 35, was charged Monday night with two counts of second-degree murder for Saturdays broad-daylight slaying of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and aide Thara Uddin, 64, in South Ozone Park.
Police have not yet speculated on a motive, but Morels brother insisted that his anger at Muslims over 9/11 was only temporary and he now definitely has no hate for the Muslims.
mroe
closeupready
(29,503 posts)If it weren't 9/11, it'd be the Madrid subway. Or he'd take his violence out on some other minority group.
MowCowWhoHow III
(2,103 posts)Two days after an imam and his assistant were gunned down after afternoon prayers in Queens, the police said late Monday that a man they had in custody had been charged in the killings.
The man, Oscar Morel of Brooklyn, 35, who was taken into custody late Sunday after the police connected him to a hit and run that occurred about a mile away from the fatal attack, faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the police said.
A police official said investigators had found what they believe was the murder weapon in the mans home as well as clothes matching the description of what the gunman had been wearing during the shootings. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the gun was found inside a wall in his apartment, on Miller Avenue in the East New York neighborhood, in a cavity that had apparently been cut open and resealed.
A man who answered a phone listed for Mr. Morels family said that he was stunned by the arrest. That is our relative, the man said, his voice soft and shaking with emotion. We are just finding out ourselves. Were pulling together the pieces as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/nyregion/oscar-morel-queens-imam-shootings.html
Princess Turandot
(4,787 posts)according to the article, they 'exchanged words' with each other, then the cyclist took off. Morel went after him, and then rammed him with his car.
This guy sounds like he is psychologically disturbed (beyond the degree that lets one rationalize and commit murder), whatever his actual motivation.
SheriffBob
(552 posts)for this unforgivable act.
ananda
(28,867 posts).. or whether he was hired as a hit man.
Wow.
Like the way they were executed it was not a first time for morel