New York, June 8: A 37-year-old man here has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a Bangladeshi-American Imam and his associate here in 2016, a crime that had been seen as symptomatic of rising Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric in the US. Oscar Morel of Brooklyn was given life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the daylight execution of Imam Maulana Akonjee and his associate and friend Thara Uddin. Morel gunned down the two men as they walked home following prayers at a mosque in Queens in August 2016.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Morel did not show “an ounce of sympathy or respect for human life when he gunned down the beloved spiritual leader and his associate moments after the two men left a nearby mosque.” Brown said the “cowardly actions” of Morel did not just take the life of two respected men, but the “killings ripped at the heart of the Muslim community - our community. It is my hope that today's conclusion to this case brings some closure and comfort to the many family and friends of the victims.”

Morel was convicted in March following a nearly three-week-long trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak. The jury found him guilty of murder and criminal possession of a weapon. According to trial testimony, the victims had just left prayers at the Queens mosque in the afternoon of August 13, 2016 when Morel approached the men from the rear and pointed a .38 caliber revolver at their heads. Morel fired several shots and ran from the scene. The Imam, 55, was hit four times in the head and body. Uddin, 64, was shot once in the head. Both men were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Video surveillance from near the scene of the shooting showed Morel get out of a black SUV and then walk and suddenly run toward the two victims, who are off-camera. Moments later, Morel is seen again on the same video surveillance running back to his vehicle and then leave the area.

A few minutes later, Morel was observed on video surveillance in Brooklyn where he allegedly struck a bicyclist with his automobile and then drove away without stopping. A local resident, who witnessed the incident, followed Morel in his own automobile to get the license number for the police. The .38 caliber firearm that was recovered from the defendant's home. Forensic analysis confirmed that the bullets that killed the Imam and Uddin were fired from that gun, which was hidden behind a kitchen wall in the Morel's Brooklyn apartment.

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