Iraqi Man Convicted of Murdering Wife Shaima Alawadi

I blogged about the fake hate crime murder of Shaima Alawadi previously here. As it turns out, her husband murdered her because she was planning to divorce him. Still no word on who concocted the fake hate crime note.

From ABC here:

An Iraqi immigrant was convicted Thursday of beating his wife to death in their El Cajon home after she asked for a divorce.

Jurors deliberated about a day and a half before finding Kassim Alhimidi, 49, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Shaima Alawadi, a mother of five.

Investigators initially believed the killing might be a hate crime due to a photocopied note found about eight to 10 feet from the victim that read, “This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist.”

The couple’s oldest son, Mohammed, stood up in the courtroom and screamed out profanities upon hearing the verdict, which he claimed was unjust.

“My dad is innocent; he was tried unfairly,” he said before being escorted out of the courtroom.

Another of the defendant’s sons, Ali, spoke in support of the verdict, as did the victim’s mother, with whom Alhimidi exchanged words in Arabic.

“He said, ‘God knows, and I attest to God, that I am not the killer. I’m innocent,'” according to a court interpreter.

Outside the courtroom, Rehima Alhussanwi talked to reporters about her son-in-law’s conviction and their courtrom exchange.

“He (Alhimidi) deserves worse,” she said. “What I said in the courtroom is this is the least, this is nothing. In Iraq, normally, if he killed her, he’s supposed to be killed the same way. So that’s the kind of sentence I wanted today.”

Do you think any of the people who participated in the million hijab march as an outcry against this supposed hate crime feel the least bit embarrassed? No, I don’t think so either.