Mr. Syed was clearly angry, Mr. Hadi, and came to the store in person to threaten the family on three separate occasions. Mr. Syed would call the brothers “kafir.” The word, meant to be derogatory, refers to non-believers who understand religion but choose to hide from it. Popularized in Saudi Arabia to denigrate Shia Muslims, the term was later adopted by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“When we would tell him to leave, he would just go to his car and sit in the parking lot waiting for us for hours,” said Mr. come on “We called the police but they never showed up.”
Police said they had no record of such calls for help. But in February 2020, surveillance footage from the Islamic Center of New Mexico showed Mr. Syed slashing the tires of the car that the wife of Mr. Hadi had parked outside the mosque. Mosque leaders told Mr. Syed to stay away, and he did for months.
Mr. Syed is now charged with murder in the killings of Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, and police said they were still compiling their cases on the other two murders. Afghan community leaders have said they are relieved a suspect has been identified, but some have been reluctant to attribute the killings to sectarian violence; Motives for killing, they learned after decades of war, are often too complicated to fit simple labels.
Salim Anseri, a leader of the city’s Afghan community who met Mr. Syed like all the victims, is one of those who is not ready to make a trial. “Maybe he’s mentally ill or he’s had personal problems with the victims,” Mr. Syed. “As far as I can tell, it was personal issues.”
For Mr. Hadi, these distinctions matter little. Through tears, she said she still struggles to return to the place where her brother’s life ended so abruptly.
“I still see him every day when I come to work,” said Mr. come on “But he is dead. Nothing will bring him back.”
Susan C. Beachy and Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.