Roommate charged with murder of 2 Bangladeshi PhD students in US

A former University of South Florida student has been charged with killing his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend – two doctoral students from Bangladesh who disappeared earlier this month, authorities said Saturday.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is facing two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, students at USF, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He made an initial court appearance Saturday in Tampa, where he was ordered held without bond. A hearing is set for April 28.

Limon’s remains were found on the Howard Frankland bridge on Friday morning, but Bristy is still missing, Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said on Friday.

Abugharbieh, a native-born US citizen, was initially taken into custody on Friday at his family’s home on preliminary charges that include unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and battery.

Online court records do not list a lawyer for him. Messages were sent via email and phone to the public defender’s office in Hillsborough County.

Officers encountered Abugharbieh as they responded to a report of domestic violence at his family’s home, just north of the campus, and were able to move his relatives to safety. But then he barricaded himself inside and refused to come out.