Former College of Arizona grad pupil discovered responsible of homicide in campus capturing of professor

A former College of Arizona graduate pupil was convicted Tuesday of first-degree homicide for fatally capturing a hydrology professor on campus, months after he was expelled.

A Pima County Superior Courtroom jury deliberated for lower than three hours earlier than reaching a verdict towards Murad Dervish, 48, within the demise of Thomas Meixner, who was shot 11 instances close to his workplace in October 2022.

Dervish additionally was convicted of 5 different felony counts, together with aggravated assault for a bullet that grazed a constructing supervisor. Dervish, who confirmed no emotion because the verdicts had been learn, is about to be sentenced on June 24. He may face life in jail.

Meixner, 52, headed the college’s Division of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. Dervish was within the grasp’s diploma program in atmospheric sciences.

Authorities stated Dervish was banned from the college in January 2022 and later expelled for ongoing points with professors after he obtained a nasty grade.

Protection legal professional Leo Masursky instructed jurors in his closing argument Monday that Dervish was having a psychotic episode in the course of the capturing and that the crime wasn’t premeditated.

He stated jurors ought to maintain Dervish accountable however urged them to think about a lesser cost of second-degree homicide that would have meant confinement in a psychiatric hospital, fairly than a jail cell.

“Murad Dervish misplaced his thoughts on Oct. 5, 2022,” Masursky stated. “He had extreme psychological well being points. He didn’t know proper from unsuitable.”

However Pima County prosecutor Mark Hotchkiss stated proof confirmed Dervish deliberate Meixner’s killing and purchased — a 9 mm handgun — a month earlier than utilizing it within the capturing.

“He isn’t responsible however insane. He is simply responsible,” Hotchkiss stated of Dervish.

In line with a felony criticism, a flyer with {a photograph} of Dervish was circulated to school workers in February 2022 with directions to name 911 if Dervish ever entered the John W. Harshbarger Constructing, the place Meixner labored.

The criticism additionally stated Dervish was barred from faculty property and was the topic of a number of experiences of harassment and threats to workers members working at Harshbarger.

Witnesses testified that Dervish was sporting a surgical masks and baseball cap as a disguise when he confirmed up exterior Meixner’s workplace and shot the professor.

Dervish fled the scene however was arrested three hours later after Arizona state troopers stopped his automobile on a freeway greater than 120 miles northwest of Tucson.

Authorities stated a loaded handgun was discovered within the car, and the ammunition was per the shell casings discovered on the capturing scene.