FILE - In this April 1, 2014, file photo, Kassim Alhimidi, is seen on trial in El Cajon Superior Court for the 2012 murder of his wife, Shaima Alawadi, in El Cajon, Calif.
El Cajon:
An Iraqi immigrant could get life in prison for his wife's fatal beating, which initially drew international condemnation when authorities believed it was a hate crime.
Kassim Alhimidi was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in San Diego Superior Court for killing Shaima Alawadi at their home in 2012 in the city of El Cajon, a suburb east of San Diego that is home to the second largest Iraqi population in the United States.
The sentencing follows an emotional trial. Alhimidi shook his head and wagged his finger as jurors delivered the guilty verdict. His oldest son shouted obscenities and proclaimed his father's innocence before several deputies wrestled him out of the courtroom. Another son also shouted in his father's defence, while the victim's mother said in Arabic that Alhimidi deserved worse, according to an official court translator.
"In Iraq, normally if he kills her, he is supposed to be killed in the same way," Rehima Alhussanwi told reporters through the translator after Alhimidi's conviction in April.
The couple's eldest daughter found Alawadi, 32, in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor in March 2012, and she died two days later, suffering from multiple fractures to her head. A note found nearby read: "This is my country, go back to yours, you terrorist," setting off a hate-crime investigation.
Muslim community leaders in the United States and Iraq initially condemned the attack against Alawadi, who wore a hijab and volunteered at the local mosque, fearing it was a hate crime. But investigators later determined the note was a photocopy of one found a week earlier outside the home.
Prosecutors indicated the note may have been planted by Alhimidi to steer the investigation away from him.
They say Alhimidi killed the mother of five because she wanted to divorce him and move to Texas. They argued Alhimidi lied to police about his troubled marriage and apologised to his wife as she lay dying in a hospital.
Defence lawyers said there is no forensic evidence against Alhimidi and that he loved his wife and was not a violent man. They say he also returned from Iraq after burying his wife there when he could have stayed in his homeland and avoided prosecution.
Kassim Alhimidi was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in San Diego Superior Court for killing Shaima Alawadi at their home in 2012 in the city of El Cajon, a suburb east of San Diego that is home to the second largest Iraqi population in the United States.
The sentencing follows an emotional trial. Alhimidi shook his head and wagged his finger as jurors delivered the guilty verdict. His oldest son shouted obscenities and proclaimed his father's innocence before several deputies wrestled him out of the courtroom. Another son also shouted in his father's defence, while the victim's mother said in Arabic that Alhimidi deserved worse, according to an official court translator.
"In Iraq, normally if he kills her, he is supposed to be killed in the same way," Rehima Alhussanwi told reporters through the translator after Alhimidi's conviction in April.
The couple's eldest daughter found Alawadi, 32, in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor in March 2012, and she died two days later, suffering from multiple fractures to her head. A note found nearby read: "This is my country, go back to yours, you terrorist," setting off a hate-crime investigation.
Muslim community leaders in the United States and Iraq initially condemned the attack against Alawadi, who wore a hijab and volunteered at the local mosque, fearing it was a hate crime. But investigators later determined the note was a photocopy of one found a week earlier outside the home.
Prosecutors indicated the note may have been planted by Alhimidi to steer the investigation away from him.
They say Alhimidi killed the mother of five because she wanted to divorce him and move to Texas. They argued Alhimidi lied to police about his troubled marriage and apologised to his wife as she lay dying in a hospital.
Defence lawyers said there is no forensic evidence against Alhimidi and that he loved his wife and was not a violent man. They say he also returned from Iraq after burying his wife there when he could have stayed in his homeland and avoided prosecution.
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