Canada Police claim they found killer of Rashad Khalifah - it was his student
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CALGARY ? A man accused of killing a controversial imam in Tucson, Ariz., in 1990 made his first appearance in a Calgary court on Friday since his arrest this week.
Glen Cusford Francis, 52, will remain in custody for up to 60 days as the United States government files detailed documents to justify his extradition to face a murder charge.
"We have the basis for the provisional arrest warrant," defence lawyer Karen Molle said after her client appeared before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Suzanne Bensler. "They have 60 days to get their evidence together."
Once all of the documents have been filed, an extradition hearing will be scheduled for Francis to determine if he should go back to the U.S. to face charges.
The fugitive was picked up in northwest Calgary on Tuesday by city police after a 19-year international manhunt.
He had been using a fake identity to evade the law, and was most recently working in Calgary as a labourer.
Francis moved from place to place around the United States for several years after the January 1990 stabbing death of Dr. Rashad Khalifa.
Francis, then going by the name Benjamin Phillips, was identified as a suspect soon after the slaying. While Francis was on the lam, five Muslim extremists were convicted of plotting to kill Khalifa, but none were convicted of actually killing him.
Khalifa had received numerous death threats for his religious views. He said he believed the Koran contained codes that prove the book was written by God. As such, he preached that only God should be praised, not prophets.
According to the Tucson Citizen, Khalifa believed some verses of the Koran were written by Satan.
Francis will be back in court on May 15.
http//www.leaderpost.com/news/charged+mosque+slaying+faces+extradition/1555306/story.html
Tucson Police cold case detectives says they've cracked one of the city's most enduring murder mysteries, one that attracted worldwide attention amid the rise of Islamic extremist groups.
52-year-old Glen C. Francis is jailed in Calgary, Canada on a warrant for the murder of Dr. Rashad Khalifa.
In January of 1990, Dr. Khalifa was stabbed dozens of times at the mosque he founded near the University of Arizona. Investigators learned that Dr. Khalifa had received numerous death threats stemming from his mathematical interpretation of the Koran.
The TPD cold case unit took up the Khalifa killing in 2006. Last December, DNA evidence found at the scene matched up with Glen Cusford Francis, a citizen of Trinidad who'd been studying Islam with Dr. Khalifa and using the name Benjamin Phillips. Police say Phillips/Francis left Tucson following the murder. Investigators traced him to Canada through family in Georgia.
Canadian police arrested Francis April 28. He is awaiting extradition.
http//www.kold.com/global/story.asp?s=10268166&ClientType=Printable
Also http//www.calgaryherald.com/news/wanted+will+remain+jail/1556898/story.html
Oh well, lets hope the police did find the right person and properly convict him. I don't prescribe to violence although it looks like it was not done by a Sunni as was first assumed although he was studying Islam under Khalifah as one report said(Kold.com). Did anyone here hear of someone called Benjamin Philips as this was the name he seems to have used.
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Peace,
Respectfully.I'd use lie detector machine to prove the accusation.
Afterall, the real killer would be someone who is not a Muslim, therefore a nonMuslim, a sunni or a shia maybe a Christian or a Jew but i doubt that it was someone who at one point agreed with RK.Needless to say, maybe this guy was hanging around RK just to see when and where will he be alone ....
God knows best,
Glory be to our God.
Peace. -
Peace,
Respectfully.I'd use lie detector machine to prove the accusation.
Afterall, the real killer would be someone who is not a Muslim, therefore a nonMuslim, a sunni or a shia maybe a Christian or a Jew but i doubt that it was someone who at one point agreed with RK.Needless to say, maybe this guy was hanging around RK just to see when and where will he be alone ....
God knows best,
Glory be to our God.
Peace.I guess what I meant was his motivation does not look to be religious. But it could be.
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Hmmm....the murder took place in 1990 and hes caught in this year 2009.....19 years after. Coincidence???
PEACE
Peace,
respectfully.God is testing us all the time, differently.
We are 24 hours a day on the tes, this whole life is a school, we are learning all the time and we must pass this exam. God willing.Glory be to our God.
Peace. -
Peace,
respectfully.God is testing us all the time, differently.
We are 24 hours a day on the tes, this whole life is a school, we are learning all the time and we must pass this exam. God willing.Glory be to our God.
Peace.I was looking for something more specific to this situation as Samia said she now understands what fitna means.
PEACE