Student suspected in double murder asked AI how to dump bodies
· Toronto Sun
Hisham Abugharbieh had questions, prosecutors say.
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He allegedly asked the AI site ChatGPT: How do you dump bodies?
Now, the 26-year-old Abugharbieh has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of his roommate and his girlfriend, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy.
Turned to ChatGPT for answers
A conviction could potentially mean a death penalty bounce in vengeful Florida.
According to cops, a body was discovered in a waterway near a bridge over Tampa Bay, where the body of one of two missing Bangladeshi doctoral students was found days earlier. So far, the body has not been identified, but is believed to be Bristy’s.
Limon’s remains were found on the Howard Frankland Bridge on Friday morning, but Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said later they were still searching for Bristy. Law enforcement dive teams were searching the bay near the bridge as part of those efforts, the sheriff’s office said.
Abugharbieh, 26, a former University of South Florida student, has been ordered held without bond. A hearing is set for Tuesday.
But before the murders, the former student had some disturbing questions for the bot, the Tampa Bay Times reported, citing court documents.
‘How would they find out?’
Abugharbieh asked on April 13: “What happens if a human is put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster?”
That was three days before the last sighting of the tragic couple, both 27, who planned to marry in their native Bangladesh.
The bot replied to Abugharbieh, “It sounds dangerous.”
The accused allegedly replied: “How would they find out?”
The former student also asked about guns and whether a car’s VIN can be changed. Other questions he allegedly asked:
“Has there been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head?”
“Will my neighbours hear my gun?”
USF students Limon and Bristy disappeared from campus on April 16. Limon was last seen at his home in an off-campus apartment complex where he lived with Abugharbieh.
Talented and promising student
Bristy, who lived off campus, was last seen an hour later at a campus science building.
Limon was studying geography, environmental science and policy, and Bristy was studying chemical engineering. She was a graduate of Noakhali Science and Technology University.
The school, which spelled her last name as Brishti, said in a statement Saturday that she was a Ph.D. candidate and described her as a talented and promising student.
Abugharbieh, a native-born U.S. citizen, was initially taken into custody on Friday at his family’s home on preliminary charges that include unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment and battery.
SWAT team arrested him
Cops say they encountered Abugharbieh as they responded to a report of domestic violence at his family’s home, just north of the campus, and were able to move his relatives to safety. But then he barricaded himself inside and refused to come out.
A SWAT team responded — along with a drone, a robot and crisis negotiators — before Abugharbieh came out with his hands up, apparently wearing nothing but a blue towel.
Abugharbieh had been a USF student but was not currently enrolled. University records showed he had attended the school from Spring 2021 through Spring 2023, and had pursued a BS in Management, a university spokesperson said.