Unsolved Murder of Muslim Mother

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   March 6, 2006

MAS Freedom Foundation's Persistence Gets Limited CNN Coverage for Unsolved Brutal Murder of Muslim Mother

CNN Revives Murder Case of LA Muslim Woman
4/4/06
By Aishah Schwartz

Hard hitting, no holds barred prime-time crime fighting advocate, Nancy Grace, resurrected December 17, 2004's unsolved cold case murder of Iman Muhanna Mohammed this past Friday night on CNN. 

It was 15 months ago that Iman Muhanna, 42, and 6-months pregnant, was found dead in the bedroom of her Metairie, Louisiana home. She had been viciously stabbed 33 times. 

The couple's unborn daughter did not survive the attack, turning the case into a double homicide. 

First to arrive at the gruesome scene was Fakhri Mohammed, 45, the victim's husband, returning home after dropping the couple's two children off at school.

Initial police reports indicated there was no evidence of forced entry into the couple's home, and confirmed that nothing was stolen. The only other thing that seemed to indicate foul play was a cut telephone line. 

Mr. Mohammed was apparently quickly ruled out as a suspect based on his absence from the marital home the morning of the murders. Jefferson Parish authorities have also not labeled the case as a hate crime. 

Despite CrimeStoppers' announcement of a $45,000 reward for tips and the efforts of a few local reporters and follow-up campaigns such as the one launched by the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation (MAS Freedom), the unsolved murders have received little media coverage. In fact it MAS Freedom's August of 2005 petition that brought the case to the attention of Nancy Grace producers. 

"Someone out there knows something about this case. Mrs. Mohammed needs someone to advocate for bringing her murderer, or murderers, to justice. It would be great if Nancy Grace of CNN and other crime solving programs would give this case coverage," stated MAS Freedom Executive Director Mahdi Bray.

When producers announced on April 1, 2006 that Nancy Grace would air a segment on her prime-time CNN program, it seemed at long last that Mrs. Mohammed's case would finally get the much needed attention it merited. Attention that has so often before gone to cases like those of Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, and more recently, Nancy Halloway who disappeared in Aruba. 

Hopes were quickly dashed however, as two-thirds of the program's opening segment were devoted to coverage of a Duke University student's allegations of multiple rape by the lacrosse team on March 13, 2006.

As the Mohammed murder finally claimed the spotlight, Chief Harry Lee of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department, unbeknownst to him at the time, climbed into the hot seat. 

Chief Lee affirmed the known facts of the case, adding that with the husband ruled out as a suspect, and with no new leads to trace, the case had simply gone cold. 

Outspoken victims' rights advocate, Grace, who once staffed the hotline at an Atlanta battered women's center for 10 years, seemed reluctant to dismiss the husband. When asked repeatedly how Fakhri Mohammed had been cleared of suspicion, the only answer Chief Lee could offer was that the timeline of his story had checked out. 

Grace persisted. "What time was she killed?" 

Chief Lee's response, "That time wasn't determined."

If the time of death wasn't determined, how then could the timeline of the husband's story have been adequately verified? Where is the forensic evidence in this case? 

Trapped in the crossfire and seeming to realize his inability to sufficiently satifsy Ms. Grace's questioning, Sheriff Lee attempted to divert the conversation's focus from the department's handling of the investigation by interjecting that there was no connection to the murder and the fact that Ms. Mohammed happened to have been the sister-in-law of Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar. 

Ashqar, 46, was indicted in August 2004 on racketeering and conspiracy charges in Chicago for allegedly raising millions of dollars for the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. He also ran as a long-shot candidate to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian National Authority in the January 9, 2005 election, despite being under house arrest in Alexandria, Virginia pending trial.

Turning her attention to clinical psychologist Dr. Patricia Saunders, Grace asked, "What's your take? No forced entry, no sex assault, nothing stolen." 

Saunders replied, "It's the 33 stab wounds that's really kind of alarming. That's an intimate and rageful act."

"There was also a report or an allegation that the covers were pulled up around just up to her neck so her body was covered. I don't know what that means. It could be just covering up the blood. It could be a ritual. It could have modesty meaning. But the feeling I get is that this is up close and personal, somebody who knew her," Saunders concluded.

If an evaluation of the murder of Iman Muhanna Mohammed were to be made based on what was aired of last Friday night's interviews, it would appear that the case is lacking crucial forensic evidence. And with the disbursement and relocation of thousands of New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, there is no telling if Ms. Mohammed's killer will ever be brought to justice, as anyone with information is likely more consumed with their own problems at this late date. 

Adding insult to injury, Crimestoppers Executive Director Darlene Cusanza was waiting on the Nancy Grace set to provide information regarding the $45,000 reward being offered for information or tips in the case, a reward fund which is set to expire April 19, 2006, but she was never brought on camera. Ms. Cusanza stated in a follow-up telephone interview that this was, "unequivocally irresponsible." 

Why was Ms. Cusanza's appearance upstaged?

It seems Ms. Grace's staff had prepared a bit of entertainment in the form of a video clip for the closing of the show in acknowledgment of April Fool's Day. 

Looks like the joke is on Iman Muhanna Mohammed and the entire Muslim community. Just when it looked like her murder, and the death of her unborn daughter was finally going to be given much needed attention, she would be upstaged by a video clip of practical jokes - and justice would not be served on this day.

--------------------

A $45,000 reward is being offered for tips leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. If you, or anyone you know, has any information about Iman Mohammed’s murder, please contact Deputy Chief Fred Williams of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office at (540) 364-5390 or (504) 364-5300, or contact Crimestoppers at (504) 822-111 or 1-877-903-STOP (7867). Callers do not have to give their names or testify.

Aishah Schwartz, Founder and Director of Muslimah Writers Alliance, is a freelance writer currently based in Alexandria, Egypt. 

Karam Thomas, member, Muslimah Writers Alliance, contributed to this report.

======================================================
The Freedom Foundation is the public affairs arm of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a national grassroots religious, social, and educational organization. MAS is America's largest grassroots Muslim organization with over 50 chapters nationwide. Learn more at www.masnet.org. Support our work at MAS Freedom Foundation. Make A Donation (http://www.masnet.org/donate.asp).
____________________________________________ 

MAS Freedom Foundation
1050 17th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Tel.: (202) 496-1288, Fax: (202) 463-0686
URL: http://www.masnet.org/index_publicaffairs.asp
Email: [email protected]