Man Charged in Killing of Queens Imam and Aide Pleads Not Guilty

The man accused of the execution-style shooting of an imam and his assistant pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges including first-degree murder in the attack on a sidewalk in Queens that alarmed many of the city’s Muslims.

The man, Oscar Morel, was arraigned in State Supreme Court in Queens on an indictment that also included two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the Aug. 13 attack in the Ozone Park neighborhood. The authorities said that Mr. Morel, 36, approached the imam, Alauddin Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, Thara Miah, 64, from behind and shot each man in the back of the head.

Mr. Morel’s parents, brother and cousins were at the hearing, as were worshipers from the mosque the victims attended, Al-Furqan Jame Masjid, which was just a few blocks from where they were killed after an afternoon prayer service.

During the hearing, prosecutors said that investigators found the gun used in the attack, a .38-caliber revolver, hidden inside a wall in Mr. Morel’s apartment in East New York, Brooklyn. The gun was in a bag, along with five discharged shell casings. Mr. Morel, who was in police custody the day after the attack, had also been connected to the killing through video surveillance, his own statements and witness accounts.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/nyregion/man-charged-in-killing-of-queens-imam-and-aide-pleads-not-guilty.html