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Police discount hate crime angle in 2 slayings

But an Islamic advocacy group says the brutality in the Muslim men's deaths suggests hate. Police have no suspects.

By ALEX LEARY
Published December 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Police remain unsure who killed two Muslim men in their apartment last week but said Thursday it does not appear to have been a hate crime, as an Islamic advocacy group suggested.

"There is nothing associated with the mode of death that would indicate to us this is a hate crime," police spokesman Bill Proffitt said a few hours after the Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference outside the Tyrone area apartment.

Homicide Sgt. Mike Puetz reasserted that sentiment and said that before motives can be established, a suspect has to be identified.

"It's sort of like putting the cart before the horse," he said.

Ahmed Bedier, a CAIR leader in Tampa, said he learned the slayings of Ali Asghar and Ikbalhusen Kurban A. Vakil were quite brutal. "They were killed in a very violent way that was very hateful," he said.

Police have only said they were killed by blunt trauma.

The violent nature coupled with a sometimes hostile reception Muslims have received in recent years, Bedier said, lends weight to the bias theory, though he stressed it was only a possibility.

One early suggestion was the Asghar and Vakil, who worked at a Tyrone Square Mall jewelry kiosk, were robbed. Bedier said he does not think that's the case because electronics and other valuables were left in the apartment.

And, he said, the men did not carry jewelry or cash for the business.

"We don't want it to be a hate crime. We hope it's not. But when it comes to our community, that's always a concern of ours," Bedier said.

Asghar, 35, was from Pakistan and Vakil, 52, was from India. They lived together because their employer paid part of the rent, friends said. They worked long hours at the mall and sent some of their earnings home to support family.

Police have no suspects in the case and have released little information, including how the men were killed, saying it could compromise the investigation.

Proffitt said police were invited to attend the 11 a.m. news conference but passed because the hate crime angle is unsubstantiated. Still, he commended CAIR for offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

Later Thursday, Muslims held a funeral service for Asghar at Royal Palm North Cemetery in north St. Petersburg. As per Islamic custom, his body was washed and scented, then draped with white cloth. Eight men stood before the body and prayed along with Mohsin Teladia, a Muslim clergyman.

Asghar's body was to be flown Thursday night to New York City, then put on a plane for Pakistan. Vakil's body was in Orlando and was being prepared to be sent home as well.

Alex Leary can be reached at 893-8472 or leary@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 01:14:59]