Naveed Haq was sentenced to life in prison this morning for barging into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle 3.5 years ago, killing one woman and wounding five others amid an anti-Israel tirade. Addressing the court for the first time, Haq blamed the shootings on mental illness and lack of treatment. “I understand you are angry,” said Haq, 34. “The tragedy wouldn’t have occurred if it wasn’t for bad medical care and mental illness.” Haq apologized for the attack “from the depth of my being.” “I am not a man filled with hate,” he said. “That Naveed Haq at the Federation that July day was not the real Naveed Haq.” The sentencing was a formality since Haq’s conviction last month for aggravated murder in Pamela Waechter’s death carried an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. The King County jury also found Haq, guilty of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime statute, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of unlawful imprisonment. During the trial, witnesses testified that Haq, who is of Pakistani heritage, railed against Jews and U.S.-Israeli policies as he opened fire in the Jewish Federation, an umbrella organization for the local Jewish community that raises money for social-welfare organizations, runs youth and adult educational programs, and engages in efforts in support of Israel. The trial was Haq’s second for the shooting. In June 2008, his first trial resulted in a mistrial when jurors were deadlocked on all but one of the 15 counts after nearly two weeks of deliberations. Prosecutors immediately announced they would retry Haq, but changed their strategy by reducing the charges to eight. During both of his trials, Haq’s defense team sought to have him sent to a state mental hospital rather than prison. Prosecutors agreed that Haq is mentally ill, but contended that he was sane when he entered the federation and opened fire. (Source: Seattle Times)

A King County jury this morning found Naveed Haq guilty of eight counts, including aggravated first-degree murder, in the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. The murder verdict carries an automatic life sentence for Haq. The jury also found Haq, 34, guilty of five counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of unlawful imprisonment and one count of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime law. Haq showed no reaction as the verdicts were read, but several people in the courtroom tearfully hugged. The jury had been weighing eight criminal counts against Haq since Thursday after seven weeks of testimony. This was Haq’s second trial on the shootings. His first trial ended in a mistrial. “We are grateful that justice for this heinous hate crime has finally been served,” Richard Fruchter, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation, said in a statement issued after the verdicts were announced. “Our hearts go out to the survivors of this shooting and their families, who bravely endured not only the shooting but two trials.” Several of the victims were seated in the courtroom this morning as the verdicts were read. They testified during both trials, reliving their ordeals. In addition, several Seattle police officers who investigated the shootings were in the courtroom. Haq opened fire in the federation offices on July 28, 2006, killing employee Pamela Waechter, 58, and wounding Cheryl Stumbo, Carol Goldman, Dayna Klein, Christina Rexroad and Layla Bush. Prosecutors said he was driven by a hatred for Israel. Erin Ehlert, senior deputy prosecutor, spoke on behalf of the victims after the verdicts were read. “I feel a lot of finality for a lot of people … a calming peace that the right thing was done.” “I’m happy it’s over,” added Seattle police Detective Dana Duffy, who helped investigate the shootings. “I’m happy with the verdict.” Haq’s first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2008, when jurors announced after nearly two weeks of deliberations that they were deadlocked on all but one of the 15 criminal counts. Prosecutors immediately announced they would retry Haq. Prosecutors reduced the number of charges to simplify deliberations for jurors in the second trial. They eliminated seven of the charges from Haq’s case, including one count of first-degree burglary, five counts of malicious harassment and one count of kidnapping. The second jury deliberated on eight counts — one count of aggravated first-degree murder; five counts of attempted first-degree murder; one count of unlawful imprisonment; and one count of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime law. The focus of the second trial was Haq’s mental state at the time of the attack. The defense did not dispute that Haq carried out the shootings, but argued that he was legally insane at the time. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and the defense produced several mental-health experts who testified that he was mentally ill. Defense attorneys had asked that Haq be sent to a state mental hospital rather than prison. Prosecutors agreed that Haq has a mental illness, but contended that he was sane when he entered the federation and opened fire. “He wanted to kill these women,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erin Ehlert told the jury during her closing argument on Thursday. “He knew exactly what his intent was when he walked in there. He

Three years after the deadly shooting, and 17 months since jurors hearing the case deadlocked, accused Greater Seattle Jewish Federation gunman Naveed Haq will again face a jury. The facts of the case remain, as all sides acknowledge, clear — Haq left the Tri-Cities on July 28, 2006, drove to the center, where he gunned down federation worker Pam Waechter and wounded five other women. Equally clear and uncontested is Haq’s history of mental illness, which prosecutors admit while arguing that Haq’s psychological state the day of the shooting does not meet the threshold set for a not guilty verdict. That clarity will be of little assistance to jurors, who will be asked to determine whether Haq’s mind was clouded by psychotic delusion, as his attorneys claim, or simple hate. In police reports left largely unchallenged by Haq’s defense team, investigators describe the terror felt by those at the Belltown neighborhood office as Haq barged into the center with a gun at the back of a teenage girl. Having gained entry to the secure Third Avenue facility, Haq spoke to the girl before releasing her. “I’m only doing this for a statement,” Haq allegedly said. Arriving at the center’s reception desk, according to police statements, Haq opened fire on workers there; Haq allegedly chased down Waechter, already injured in the initial shooting, and shot her in the head as she attempted to flee. Then, holding a gun to the head of a injured woman who was 17 weeks pregnant at the time, Haq offered his demands to a 911 operator. Offering his name and social security number, Haq allegedly went on to demand that the United States military leave Iraq, complained that Muslims in the Middle East were “getting pushed around” by Israel and asked to be connected with CNN. When the operator told him she couldn’t make that happen, he agreed to surrender to police. Following the shooting, Haq made numerous anti-Semitic comments to investigators. In addition to an aggravated murder charge which would carry a mandatory life sentence and several attempted murder charges, King County prosecutors have charged Haq under the state hate crime statute. Now, though, Haq’s attorneys point to those statements and his outlandish demands as evidence that Haq, now 34, was insane at the time of the crime. Such a finding, were the jury to make it, would see Haq confined at a state hospital until he was deemed fit to be released. The key questions for jurors will likely be whether Haq could “perceive the nature and quality” of his alleged actions or “tell right from wrong” while committing them. If his mental illness prevented him from making either distinction, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity would follow under state law. Following the 2008 deadlock, jurors said they were hung-up on whether Haq acted with premeditation, a predicate for aggravated first-degree murder. One juror said she was prepared to find that Haq was insane at the time of the shooting. In the trial set to begin Wednesday morning, prosecutors will bring a potentially key piece of evidence in that regard — tapes of jailhouse phone calls made by Haq in the weeks following his arrest. According to court documents, Haq tells his mother he is a “soldier of Islam” and argues

A King County judge postponed the second trial of accused Jewish Federation shooter Naveed Haq for several months, the Seattle Times reports. The delay was ordered by Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas so defense attorneys can review the estimated 500 to 600 recordings of telephone calls to and from Haq in the King County Jail that were turned over by prosecutors. Kallas had initially set Haq’s retrial for Sept. 22. Kallas scheduled a hearing for Aug. 6 to determine the date of Haq’s new trial, which will likely be in January. Haq, 32, is accused of shooting six women, killing one, after he burst into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28, 2006. Haq has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Source: Seattle Times)

Accused Jewish Federation attacker Naveed Haq will be retried starting Sept. 22 for the 2006 shooting spree that killed one woman and wounded five others. King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas made the trial date decision on Thursday, after listening to extended testimony from Haq’s defense team and prosecutors. Defense attorneys were asking for the trial to be delayed until early next year. Prosecutors said they will be ready to begin selecting another jury in the case in early September, in time to try the case before the winter holidays. Kallas declared a mistrial in Haq’s first trial June 4 after the jury indicated it was deadlocked on 14 of the 15 criminal counts against Haq. Haq, 32, is accused of shooting six women, killing one, after he burst into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28, 2006. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Click HERE to read all stories posted by YWN regarding this incident, beginning with the initial shooting in July 2006. (Source: Seattle Times)

6:35PM EST: According to KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, the judge in the case of the Jewish Federation office shootings has declared a mistrial after the jury said they were deadlocked on all 15 charges against Naveed Haq. The jury was deliberating whether 32-year-old Haq would go to a prison or a mental hospital. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder, attempted murder and other charges. Two of the victims in the July 2006 shootings in which one woman was killed and four others were wounded were in the courtroom, along with the head of the Jewish Federation, when the decision was announced. Click HERE to read all stories posted by YWN regarding this incident, beginning with the initial shooting in July 2006. (Source: KIRO 7 TV / Lipas)

The man accused of shooting up the Seattle Jewish Federation two years ago, killing one woman and wounding five, was not insane but had a deliberate plan to make a blood-soaked political point, prosecutors said Monday as his trial opened. Naveed Haq, 32, a Pakistani-American born in the United States, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of murder and attempted murder in the July 2006 attack. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. Prosecutor Erin Ehlert said Haq, who is Muslim, stalked through the office, shooting one victim after another, in one case reaching over a cubicle wall before pulling the trigger.

8:32AM EST: Prosecutors are seeking to add 11 criminal charges against Naveed Haq, who is accused of killing one woman and wounding five last summer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle (reported HERE on YW). In a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors will ask to add five burglary charges, five counts of malicious harassment — a hate crime — and one unlawful-imprisonment charge, Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz said. Haq already faces nine criminal charges. If convicted of the most serious — aggravated murder in the death the charity’s annual campaign director, Pamela Waechter — he would face life in prison. The Tri-Cities man, who has a history of mental illness, is also currently charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count each of kidnapping, burglary and malicious harassment. UPDATED 2:40PM EST: Naveed Haq changed his plea Wednesday to not guilty by reason of insanity for the 20 criminal charges he now faces, including the 11 new charges that prosecutors filed Wednesday morning. Haq’s attorneys said Haq has a long history of mental illness, hospitalizations and suicide attempts over the years. He has most consistently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, which Richards called “a very debilitating type of mental disorder.” The attorneys also dispute that Haq committed a hate crime. Richards said Haq did not “as a result of religious hatred.” SPINS