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.”
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3 Responses
I didn’t know that being a Jew hating Arab is considered a mental illness.
It’s wonderful that there are some non-biased people out there who are willing to stand up for what’s right and just, even if it’s not the “fad” of the time. Some people might overlook this whole incident or at least not keep adding all the charges, on the account that it was only a Jew who was affected.
he should be hanged