Suspect in killing of 2 Florida graduate students from Bangladesh held
without bond
[April 29, 2026]
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of killing two University of South
Florida students from Bangladesh will be kept in jail without bond, a
judge ordered Tuesday, just days after a SWAT team descended on his
parents’ house to arrest him.
Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, also is prohibited from having any contact with
witnesses or the victims' relatives, Hillsborough County Judge Logan
Murphy ordered during a brief hearing in a Tampa courtroom.
Abugharbieh faces two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon as
well as other charges, according to state court records. Abugharbieh
could get the death penalty if convicted, although prosecutors haven’t
yet indicated whether they would seek capital punishment.
Abugharbieh was not in the courtroom during Tuesday morning's hearing.
Public defender Jennifer Spradley said Monday that her office would not
comment.
Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old doctoral students from
Bangladesh, were considering getting married, a relative said, before
they disappeared April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus complex
where he shared an apartment with Abugharbieh and another roommate.
Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to
track Abugharbieh’s car and Limon’s phone to the bridge where Limon’s
body was found Friday morning. Limon had numerous stab wounds and
appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors.
Deputies continued searching for Bristy. On Sunday, the sheriff’s office
announced a body had been found in a waterway near the bridge. The body
had not been identified, the sheriff’s office said.
The medical examiner's office said Tuesday that autopsy reports for the
body were pending. Based on the charges, though, Bristy is presumed
dead. Prosecutors added new charges related to her case Monday,
including tampering with physical evidence, failure to report a death
and unlawfully holding or moving a dead body.
When detectives questioned Abugharbieh and the other roommate several
days after the couple went missing, investigators noticed Abugharbieh's
pinky finger was bandaged, but he denied any involvement with Limon’s
disappearance, according to the prosecution's pretrial detention report.
During an interview with investigators, the suspect's mother, Haya
Abugharbieh, said her son had struggled to manage his anger and had been
violent to family members in the past.
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Hisham Abugharbieh, facing two counts of first-degree murder appears
in court via video on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Tampa, Fla. (WFTS-TV
via AP)
When an apartment manager gave investigators access to the
apartment, and to Limon's locked bedroom, the third roommate told
detectives Abugharbieh had used a cart overnight on April 16 to move
cardboard boxes from his room to the trash compactor. That's where
detectives found Limon’s wallet and campus ID badge, credit card,
eyeglasses and clothes that appeared to have blood on them.
Returning with a search warrant, detectives found blood residue
leading from the kitchen to Abugharbieh’s bedroom, and more blood
that soaked his bedroom carpet. In Limon’s bedroom, they found
Bristy’s campus ID and credit cards.
Days before they went missing, Abugharbieh had asked Open AI's
ChatGPT what would happen if a human body was put in a garbage bag
and thrown in a dumpster, according to a report filed by prosecutors
over the weekend. ChatGPT responded that Abugharbieh’s question
sounded dangerous, according to the report.
An investigation the office of Florida’s attorney general launched
last week over whether ChatGPT offered advice to the suspect accused
of killing two people last year at Florida State University will be
expanded to include the killings of the USF students, state Attorney
General James Uthmeier said Monday on social media.
Open AI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said Tuesday that the company was
looking into the reports on Abugharbieh and would support law
enforcement in any way with their investigation.
“This is a terrible crime, and our thoughts are with everyone
affected," Pusateri said in an email.
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