Trondheim: Suspect wanted to "kill Muslims if the opportunity presented itself"

Trondheim: Suspect wanted to "kill Muslims if the opportunity presented itself"

Mahmed Jamal Shirwac, a Somali driving an illegal taxi in Trondheim, was shot to death August 22nd, 2008 (Dagbladet).

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A 26 year old murder suspect wrote that he planned "to kill Muslims if the opportunity presented itself".  Father to six Mahmed Jamal Shirwac (46) was brutally murdered with 13 shots.

In a committal order by the Frostating court of appeals the judges emphasized "the suspect's extensive activity and strong racist statements on the internet".  In addition they noted a note the suspect wrote prior to the murder that he planned "to muder Muslims if the opportunity presented itself". Trondheim police recently said that htey thought the murder was racially motivated.

"We have made several discoveries that support us in this theory," says police lawyer Heidi Melø of the Sør-Trøndelag police district.

The police think that the 26 year old murdered Shirwac with 13 shots at close range with a Heckler & Koch weapon.  Thirteen empty casings found on the scene of the crime in Ringvålvei could come from this weapon.

"There is no doubt that this is a very serious action due to the number of shots," says Melø.

Police didn't want to comment on details in the case in consideration to the man's family, and since the police hasn't got all the materials in the case in writing.
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According to the order from the Forstating court of appeal "three empty casings were confiscated at the suspect's residence, which in all probability came from cartridges fired by the same weapon that shot the murder shots."  Fifteen casings were also found in connection to the arrest of the suspect and according to KRIPOS (criminal police) were likely fired by the same weapon as the cartridge casings found on the scene of the crime.  The suspect also had a loading machine which was used to load the cartridges.

This machine left unique marks on the cartridges.  The KRIPOS investigators will show that the marks on a casing on the scene of the crime and by the 26 year old connect him to the case.

The suspect 25 year old was a member of the Trondheim field shooters.  During the investigation the police conducted an extensive weapons project where the investigated shooting ranges and conducted test shooting of other weapons.

"It seems to me that the police identified the shooting community.  Members in the club called me after having been contacted by the police in connection with their shooting weapon," says Morten Elstad, head of the shooting club.

the police think that the suspect tried to modify the weapon after the murder, by among other things polishing and grinding.  The results from this analysis and from the weapons project aren't complete.

The court also based its decision on the following data when they decided two weeks ago to keep hte man in prison for eight more weeks.

* Two independent witnesses gave evidence of a pedestrian man in connection to the murder place and time of the murder.  Their descriptions resulted in a facial composite: "The similarity with the suspect is striking," says a court source.

* A video from Statoil Heimdal just before 1AM on the night of the murder shows a passenger in Shirwac's car.  The passenger had similar features to the suspect."

The 26 year old is suspected of intentional murder of the father to six.   He doesn't have an alibi for the night of the murder and had told the police that he blacked out in the time period when the murder happened.

"My client doesn't want to take part in the police's game of going out with several elements from the investigation to the media before an eventual court case, and is content in saying that he nothing to do with the murder and therefore is not guilty," says his lawyer, John Christian Elden.

In his appeal to the appeal court Elden said that no DNA was found in the case that connects the suspect to the scene of the crime.

Source: Adressavisen (Norwegian)

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