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The USF Double Student Homicide: The Case Of Zamil Limon & Nahida Bristy

79m 49s

The USF Double Student Homicide: The Case Of Zamil Limon & Nahida Bristy

The episode covers the brutal murders of Jamil Limon and Nahida Bristi, two PhD students at the University of South Florida, who vanished on April 16, 2026. Their friends quickly noticed their disappearances, as both were reliable and responsive. Investigators traced their last contacts and found evidence linking their roommate, Hisham Abu Garbi, to the crime. Hisham’s behavior raised red flags, including fresh cuts, changing stories about a trip to Clearwater, and attempts to clean his car and apartment. A search of the dumpster and apartment revealed blood-stained items, including clothing, shoes, and a wallet, leading to the discovery of Jamil’s body in a trash bag on the Howard Franklin Bridge and Nahida’s body later in mangroves. Hisham’s phone data and purchases, including trash bags, duct tape, and a fake beard, showed premeditation. Most shockingly, his ChatGPT searches, such as “What happens if a human is put in a black garbage bag?” and “Can a knife penetrate a skull?” revealed his planning. He was arrested after a SWAT standoff, appearing in only a towel. The case raised questions about apartment complex negligence, as complaints about Hisham’s violent past were ignored. Florida’s Attorney General launched an investigation into OpenAI’s role, sparking debates about AI accountability. The episode honors the victims’ memories, highlights their families’ grief, and emphasizes the need for justice and systemic safety reforms.

Transcription

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English
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so very much for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, make sure to click subscribe or follow if you are listening, and that way you'll never miss an episode from me. Now, today, you guys, we have a very, very disturbing, very recent, just absolutely absurd case that desperately needs more coverage. It has been breaking over the last couple of months, and I am really surprised not many people seem to be talking about it. But it certainly needs the exposure. And I first heard about this case when I was just scrolling social media one night. And this video popped up on my feed. And as you can see, it is quite shocking. Truly a what the fuck is going on here type of moment. And for my audio only listeners, we're currently looking at a video of a college age student wearing only a blue towel around his waist and his hands are in the air as he's approaching a SWAT team. So obviously, this grabbed my attention. And in that moment, so many questions started running through my mind. And I was wondering, who is this person? Why is he only in a towel? What has he done? And I just had to know more. So I'm sure you are wondering how we got here. And once I started digging into this case and getting some of those answers, I knew this was a case I wanted to talk about that needed to be talked about. And like I said, I'm just so shocked that more people don't know about it. I'm going to be telling you guys about the horrific murders of two PhD students. I hope I am getting the pronunciation of their names right. I believe it's Shamil Limon and Nahida Bristi. But I have heard some sources refer to her last name as Bristi, which is quite possible because the majority of the sources that I have seen cover the case are saying Bristi. I'm going to go ahead and go with that for this episode. But like I said, it's very possible that I'm getting that wrong. So apologies if I am. Now, I first heard about their murders while I was on maternity leave, and I was just so disturbed by the details of this case and the fact that they, you know, were two seemingly wonderful people, very, very smart. And what happened to them is just hard to even wrap your mind around. Obviously, I was taking time off during maternity leave to recover and take care of my baby, but I made a note that I wanted to cover this pretty soon after I came back. And now that we have even more access to information, I'm going to go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead the appropriate time. Before getting into this episode, I just wanted to thank you all for listening to and supporting my show and also any of the Mile Higher Media shows. Your support makes it possible for us to continue funding grants through my foundation, Higher Hope, which supports victims of violent crimes, their families and like-minded nonprofits. And with that, let's get into today's case. Starting with the evening of Thursday, April 16th, 2026. That's when friends of Bangladeshi students Jamil Limon and Nahida Mahmood, who are students at the University of Bristol, first noticed that something wasn't right. Neither of them were answering their phones and both of them had missed out on plans that were previously made. Now for Nahida, she didn't show up for plans with a friend, which she did confirm she would have shown up for when they spoke on the phone at 2.14 p.m. that day. Now, as for Jamil, he was also unreachable by friends and fellow students and then later a professor who he had planned to meet up with before finalizing his thesis. Both of them were not able to meet up with each other. They were not able to meet up with each other. Jamil and Nahida were international students at the University of South Florida in Tampa and had only been in the United States for a short period of time. Jamil first came to the States in 2024 and Nahida in 2025. And it was on campus where the two of them met. Now, he was getting his PhD in geography and environmental science and policy, and she was getting her PhD in chemical engineering. So obviously two very smart people, two people who had a major passion for education. And that's why Jamil and Nahida were able to meet up with each other. And they came to the United States in the first place. Their families had mentioned they wanted a better future for themselves. And for one reason or another, they both ended up in Tampa, where their paths eventually crossed. Now, as far as the status of their relationship goes, that is a bit of a foggy zone. I'm not totally sure. But each of their brothers seemed to have a different perspective or understanding of where their relationship was at currently. One of them has said that they were currently dating, and then the other has said that they dated more previously in the past. But the bottom line is, at one point in time, potentially at the time of their murders, the two of them were romantically involved. At the very least, they seemed to have strong feelings for each other, and they had discussed a future together. But on April 16th, that future was taken away from them in such a brutal way and for absolutely no reason. And as I said, their disappearances were noticed right away. I mean, that's how many people in their life they were seeing on a daily basis, how many people they impacted, and how many people cared about them. The flags were raised immediately. So around 4.40 p.m. on April 17th, University of South Florida police were notified by a mutual friend that Nahida was missing. And based on what this friend knew of her, the circumstances just were not in her nature. She has been described as a very reliable friend and student. And so for her to have suddenly gone dark, especially in the middle of a school week, was absolutely not normal. She wasn't someone who would just randomly bail out or miss out on plans. She definitely was someone who wouldn't have turned her phone off. So this behavior was just bizarre because any time that anyone tried to call her, it would just go right to voicemail. Very, very unusual. And actually, Jamil, had been described very similarly. So much so that this friend, whose name is Omer, mentioned Jamil's name as well. And he told the USF PD that he couldn't reach Jamil either, and that his phone also appeared to be off. And Omer even went as far as going to Jamil's apartment to try and find him, but that only made him more worried after he noticed that Jamil's scooter was there, but his door was locked. Now, interestingly, in the early reporting, sources said that both students were reported missing at the same time. So, I don't know if that's true, but I don't know which would make sense since we know Omer mentioned both of their names. However, we now know that Jamil's disappearance wasn't officially reported until the next day on the 18th to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Now, thankfully, the two departments communicated very quickly, and the investigation into their disappearance is kicked off right away. But first and foremost, I want all of you to know who Jamil Lamone and Nahida Bristie were. They were dedicated students and loyal friends. They were accountable and responsible, which is why when they didn't show up to meetings, stop answering calls, and missed appointments, their friends immediately knew something was very wrong. On April 17th, the University of South Florida Police Department reported that Jamil Lamone and Nahida Bristie were in a relationship. Jamil Lamone was notified that our first victim had been reported missing. This was very unusual. Like I mentioned, she was responsible. She never missed her thesis appointments. She never missed work. She was responsive. So, the University of South Florida Department, who I have to thank for being absolutely an incredible partner, Chief Daniels, the University of South Florida President, thank you. Thank you for your help in this case. They immediately started looking back and creating a timeline of when she was last seen. The next day, on April 18th, we get a phone call from a concerned friend of Jamil saying, hey, he also is very responsible, dedicated, responsive, didn't answer his calls, didn't show up to his appointments. Something's wrong. Working so closely like we do with the University of South Florida Police Department, we immediately notice, when our missing persons detectives and the detective that they have working at the university realize that, hey, these cases are connected. We should work them together. And that's when this collaborative effort started. Right off the bat, investigators took steps to try and locate these two missing 27-year-olds. And just as you heard, USFPD reviewed some footage from campus, which captured the last time that Nahida left her office. And she was last seen leaving the National Environmental Sciences Building at 12.08 p.m. She was wearing a light pink long-sleeved shirt, long black pants and sneakers with white bottoms, and she was also carrying an umbrella to block the sun. Then the next day, when they physically went to her office, they discovered some very important information. Okay, while they were there, they found several of her personal belongings, including her lunchbox, her MacBook, an iPad, and a larger personal bag. And through gaining access to her iPad, they uncovered her final belongings. And they found several of her personal belongings communications of that day. As I said, Nahida had plans with a friend on the 6th 16th and they spoke on the phone at 11 30 as well as 2 14 p.m so twice that day she had asked this friend to bring her her eyeglasses and according to nahida's brother the two of them had very casual plans to go grocery shopping together and he knew about that because she had spoke to her parents that day which she did like every day and that conversation was said to be totally normal nothing seemed off to them at all nahida also got in contact with jamil on the 16th via facebook messenger and they shared one audio call at 12 41 p.m followed by a message at 2 39 although it was in another language and has yet to be confirmed and then they spoke again in two more audio calls at 2 42 and 2 52 p.m and then after that nobody had contact with nahida again now when it came to tracking down jamil's final timeline and you you you you that you know general whereabouts investigators first stop for collecting information was his apartment so jamil and two other roommates lived at avalon heights apartment complex which at the time of his disappearance was listed as off-campus housing for usf students and it's one of the closest apartments to campus and according to jamil's brother he intentionally wanted to live there because of its proximity to the school you know it made things more convenient but anyways building management let the police into the unit and through the his locked bedroom door but keep in mind that going into this they weren't necessarily looking for a crime scene they were just looking for information on where he could have been but in doing so they collected his toothbrush a dell laptop and a charger samsung and iphone boxes a receipt sticky notes a presenter badge as well as his bangladesh passport and a pair of black round stud earrings and as for his last contact with anyone investigators knew that he and nahida spoke on the 16th just before 3 p.m on facebook and a friend additionally reported that they talked on the phone around 3 p.m as well on that same day and that appears to be the last time that he spoke with anyone now his last physical sighting was reported as 9 a.m on the 16th at his apartment though it's unclear who made that sighting at this time i assume it's probably his roommate not totally sure on that but when investigators spoke with both of them on the 18th his first roommate said that he saw jamel on the 15th while he was cooking rice and his second roommate as you'll hear is not a reliable witness and it was through investigators conversations with both of them that first made them believe that something more was wrong so you have probably heard me talk about today's sponsor many times it is neutrophil now neutrophil is one of my favorite brands and i have been using it since before they started sponsoring me that's how you know i love it i have spent my own money on neutrophil and i have seen such incredible results since i started using it after my daughter 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off the bat raised several red flags over the course of that day and the days to follow when he was spoken to alongside that other roommate he reiterated that he had no idea where jameel and nahida were and one investigators noticed right off the bat when speaking to him is that he appeared to have a wrapped up cut on his left side of his head and he was talking about his left side of his head pinky finger which he said he got from cutting onions but when he was brought into the station for a follow-up interview he was asked about what specifically he was cooking like what are these onions for but he couldn't remember he also reportedly just started word bombing some very specific things that only someone connected to the disappearances would have known for example hisham started saying that he had never been to clearwater florida and that neither nahida or ben in his car and the reason i bring that up and mind you according to the reporting these were things that he just randomly offered up he brought up completely unprompted for no reason but what he clearly didn't know was that investigators had already started tracing all of their cell phone data and by the time that they were conducting follow-up interviews with him they were already aware of the fact that he sham had been to clearwater and that shaman had been to clearwater mill was with him when he went and i'll get more into the data tracking specifics here in a bit but they basically knew that he sham definitely went there as did jamil's phone on the night they disappeared and here's the kicker once they tell this dummy that they have this data because of course they do he totally changed his story he said that he had went to clearwater to look for fishing spots and had used his phone to map himself there but when they asked if they could see those searches he said he deleted them and he said that he had deleted them and he said that he had deleted his location history now as for why jamil was there he shan claimed that he had asked him to drop him and nahida off there but he said they didn't give a reason as to why so he alleges that he took them to clearwater but hasn't seen or heard from them since now obviously right off the bat common sense is going to tell you that that is just a total load of bullshit and this guy is unbelievably stupid i mean it's a real class a idiot does class a work for him i don't know you know what i'm trying to say like top tier idiot s tier idiot he is just such a moron and you will see as we continue to go through this case but on top of that investigators had also gotten a warrant and were allowed to take photos of he shan and while doing so they noticed additional lacerations on his upper left tricep and it was covered up by a band-aid but when it was removed it looked like this wound was still relatively fresh and he also had cuts on both of his legs so yeah very quickly things were not looking good for him meanwhile as multiple conversations were being had with over these first few days other conversations were happening as well and their other roommate definitely had some important things to share including the fact that on the night of april 16th into april 17th he remembered seeing he shan use a cart to move cardboard boxes from their unit to the apartment complex's dumpster when he was asked about this though he shan said that he was just getting rid of old clothes the roommate also said that a few things from their apartment were missing like a black doormat some pots and pans as well as a towel from the counter and speaking of trash investigators returned to avalon heights apartments on the 20th and they looked through the trash bin in front of their apartment and they made some very interesting discoveries they found a cbs receipt dated april 16th for items such as heavy duty trash bags lysol wipes febreze funyuns and irish spring body wash and they also found pieces of silver duct tape that had tested presumptive positive for blood their other roommate was actually asked about these items and he said that he shan ordered them to be delivered by door dash but not surprisingly when he shan was asked about it he denied even having purchased them so if you didn't quite catch that this fucking idiot door dashed items to help him cover up his crime so then investigators ended up also speaking with his mom and they talked to her on april 22nd and she said that the last time she saw him on april 18th she didn't remember seeing any cuts or anything on him however she did paint a picture of her son as someone who deeply struggled with his mental health she said that he had anger issues and had been violent with his family members in the past and so concern about his involvement then grew even stronger, because when investigators went back to search the apartment again, oh boy, they found even more evidence. They ended up finding size 6 women's shoes, which appeared to match the shoes that Nahida was seen wearing on that surveillance footage that day that she went missing. They also found her black umbrella, which we know she had that day too, plus a small bunny clutch was found, and it contained her USF ID and her credit cards in Jamil's locked bedroom. So yeah, things are looking bad for Hisham, and the evidence is stacking higher and higher and higher, and it didn't stop. During one of Hisham's interviews, he agreed to let investigators look inside his car, and they could tell it had been recently cleaned, and he had also tried to wipe the car's electronic location data. However, like I said before, investigators did manage to obtain location data for Hisham and Jamil via their cell phones, so that really didn't matter. So a warrant data was signed on April 23rd, and that ended up being a really big day for this case. For starters, that day Hisham had his third interview. It was actually the one that I mentioned a minute ago, where he brought up Clearwater and then changed his story about seeing Jamil and Nahida, but that day was also big because their case was upgraded from missing to missing and endangered, and that was largely prompted by the fact that investigators made such gruesome discoveries while searching their apartment that morning again. After learning Hisham was throwing things out in the apartment's dumpster, investigators got in contact with the building to ask if they had been emptied, and luckily, they had not. So that morning, 7am on the 23rd, they returned with a warrant to search it, as well as a warrant to search more thoroughly through the apartment as well. And that search of the dumpster, you guys, revealed several very disturbing items, including a bloody black cushion cooking pots and pans, a black wallet, which was in the same bag as a USF ID badge for Jamil, a Chase Star Wars themed Visa card, a built MasterCard, a grey shirt with holes and cuts on it that tested presumptive positive for blood, a light pink iPhone case, which is believed to have belonged to Nahida, a pair of grey shorts, which tested presumptive positive for blood, three pairs of socks, all that tested presumptive positive for blood, tan slides, which the right person was wearing, and glasses that were consistent with the glasses that Jamil wore. And then the blood on these items were tested against DNA taken from Jamil and Nahida's toothbrushes. And then, when they used Blue Star testing in the apartment, which if you're not familiar with it, basically, that is a method of finding blood that has been attempted to have been cleaned up. And that's when it became clear that a crime had definitely been committed there. They saw areas of apparent blood in the entrance to the apartment, and they saw areas of in the hallway leading to Hisham's bedroom. Then, there was also blood-like staining on the carpet of his bedroom. And, god, you guys, this is really upsetting, but there were, quote, two distinct patterns on the floor which appeared to have a relatively human-sized shape. And all of this was consistent with him having dragged their bodies through the apartment. And it gets even worse. Under the bed, they found three rolls of heavy-duty black trash bags, similar to the ones that were found in the dumpster. And they also found duct tape in his bathroom, which, as we know, was also found in the trash. Our detectives believe that the first stop should be back at our second victim's residence. So, we go to Jamil's residence, where he lives with two roommates. One roommate continues to be elusive. The stories are inconsistent, almost to the point where he will talk about anything, loves to talk about himself. And this continues and carries throughout the entire investigation, except when we want to talk about either one of our two victims. Then, he immediately starts becoming elusive and deceptive. The other roommate, we learn very quickly that he wasn't involved, begins to become extremely cooperative. And at that point, he, at the initial stages, when this is still a missing, missing person's case, notifies us that something's wrong. The doormat by the door is missing. There's some pots and pans missing. So, our detectives, as hard-charging as they are, their first stop is the dumpster. They learn that the trash compactor in the complex hasn't been emptied yet in these couple days. This is where we get the first break in our case. We go out there dumpster diving. These detectives are getting inside the complex. They're getting inside the complex. They're getting inside the dumpster and empty the entire contents. And they find Zamil's glasses, his student ID, his wallet, and his clothes, which are extremely bloodied at the time. Again, this is where we get our first break. This is where, during this timeline, this missing persons becomes a missing person endangered case. So, we have enough evidence to get a search warrant. We go back to the residence and we serve the search warrant. And the search warrant's for the residence, for the roommates, both roommates' phones, for their person, and for their cars. They go into the residence and we have some amazing technology, one of it being Blue Star that identifies the presence of blood. And when they deploy Blue Star, they can see in the kitchen area, there's a large pool of blood. They see that the blood continues down the hallway and into our suspect's bedroom. The technology is so precise and finite that we can see the outline of a human being on the floor next to our suspect's bed, where he was curled up in a fetal position. Then after searching his car, and again using Blue Star testing there, they found a large amount of blood on the passenger floorboard. Blood which was later confirmed to be a match to Nahida. At that point, we turn to the car. In the trunk, very little blood. The floorboard of the passenger side of his vehicle, again deploying Blue Star technology, we see a large amount of blood there. We later find out that that's Nahida's blood. That comes back, that comes back to her. And the incriminating findings definitely didn't stop there. And like I've said a few times, the investigators retrieved the data from Hisham's and Jamil's phones. Well, that data painted a very clear picture about what happened before, during, and after. And it's a very clear picture of what happened before, during, and and after Jamil and Nahida went missing. We live in an environment our biology was never designed for. EMFs, artificial light, seed oils, microplastics, endocrine disruptors, and modern stressors. These assaults can disrupt the signals your body relies on, negatively impacting your gut, immune, and overall health. Armaclostrum works at the cellular level to control the amount of blood that's left in your body. Armaclostrum is nature's first whole food, with over 400 bioactive nutrients that fortify gut health, strengthen immune health, fuel performance, and more, paving the way for your best health and vitality. And now Armra has sodas, which are absolutely delicious. My current favorite is their pear ginger. Oh, it is so good. It is so refreshing. And the fact that I am getting so many benefits in it, I love it. Now, Armra Colostrum is your secret to feeling strong, vibrant, and confident again. Colostrum is packed with over 400 bioactive nutrients that work at the cellular level to ignite inside-out transformation for whole body benefits, including hair, skin, gut, and more. Ready to reclaim your extraordinary? We've worked out a special offer for my audience. Receive 30% off your first subscription order. Go to armra.com slash tckr and enter tckr to get 30% off your first subscription order. That's armra.com slash tckr. On Jamel's phone, they could see that on April 16th, it pinged in the area of his school and residence between 4.44 and 5.57 p.m. And then after that, around 7.43 p.m., it began moving in the direction of Clearwater. And at 8.25, his phone pinged in Clearwater at 240 Sand Key Estates Drive. It then pinged one final time at 12.11. And then after that, it pinged in the direction of 11.00 a.m. in the same location, but there was no activity after that. As for Hisham's phone, the earliest time and location stamp I could find on court records showed that at 9.41 p.m. on the 16th, he was at the Avalon Heights apartment complex. Then at 1.02 a.m., now on the 17th, his phone connected to his car's Bluetooth. And then five minutes later, it left the apartment complex traveling west on Fletcher Avenue. Now this next one is super important. At 1.27 a.m., on the Howard-Franklin Bridge, and then it stopped moving. His flashlight turned on at 1.34 a.m., which I'm sure some of you didn't know that your phone does keep track of when your flashlight is turned on. But then between 1.35 and 1.46, he continued traveling west on the bridge, made a U-turn, and then proceeded back over the bridge headed east. And then next, between 2.09 and 2.12 a.m., the data showed that he was back at Avalon Heights, where his activity record recorded that he took 289 steps. Then between 3.21 and 3.12 a.m., he was back at 25, his phone connected back to his car, and it showed that he had gone in the direction of the apartment complex's dumpster. And then finally, his phone traveled back towards the Howard Franklin Bridge, stopping there again between 4 10 and 4 13 a.m. And then, you guys, his phone data proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a complete idiot to the nth degree, an S-tier moron. I mean, if you didn't already think that based off everything else we have gone through, it gets even worse. This guy is truly a dumb motherfucker because it turns out he was using chat GPT before, during, and after the disappearances, almost like his accomplice, trying to make chat GPT his accomplice. I think I just said chat GPT. Does anyone else get that wrong? I say that wrong all the time. But anyway, I just have to read you what, he wrote. It is so stupid. I mean, oh my god. I don't even have words for this man. He must have truly thought that authorities wouldn't be able to look at his history with chat GPT. I mean, come on. So let's go through it. Oh my god, just buckle up. Take a deep breath because stupidity is going to like eat you alive for a second. On April 13th at 9 16, he asked, what happens if a human has a put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster? And yes, I know that makes barely any sense, but that is what he typed. And I'm sure you understand what he was trying to get answered. So then chat responded to him saying that it sounded dangerous, to which he followed up by asking, how would they find out? Two days later, between 10 04 and 10 14, he asked, can a VIN number on a car be changed? Can you keep a gun at home without a license? So, can I keep one at home legally if I don't have a license? And then at 12 26 AM on April 17th, just before his phone tracked him traveling to and from that bridge, he wrote, our cars checked at the Hillsborough River State Park. On April 19th at 5 26, he asked, will my neighbors hear my gun? My god. At 5 28 AM, he wrote, will Apple know who is the iPhone user after the previous user? At 6 57 AM, he wrote, will Apple know who is the iPhone user after the previous user? At 6 57 AM, his message reads, has there been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head? I can't make this shit up. Then at 10 20 PM, big dummy asks, is there a water temperature that burns immediately? And lastly, on April 23rd at 6 30 AM, he wrote into chat GPT, what does missing endangered adult mean? And mind you, April 23rd was when their disappearances had been reclassified. So he's obviously trying to figure out, what exactly that means. I literally don't have words for the level of stupid that this loser is. It's just, it's beyond. And of course we love stupid on this show. We love stupid in this world because stupid gets caught, but wow, next level, this guy, I mean, truly he should have just tattooed. I'm guilty across his stupid greasy forehead, but yeah, the fuckery doesn't end there. You guys, his phone data also revealed the purchase. That he made on DoorDash. So at this point they were able to confirm that he did make the purchases beyond just the receipt. So yeah, he DoorDashed his supplies. On the night of April 16th, 10 24 PM, he placed a DoorDash order from CVS for those trash bags, Lysol wipes, Febreze, Funyuns, and Irish spring body wash. What kind of sicko can stomach eating Funyuns, in my opinion, just any time? I know a lot of people love Funyuns, so no hate, but like, what makes you feel hungry for Funyuns after committing such a heinous crime while you are cleaning a crime scene? Like to just throw that in there is baffling, baffling. Then on April 21st, he DoorDashed some Neosporin at 10 39 PM. And of course his Amazon data was recovered too. I mean, this guy truly thought they weren't going to see any of this. Just amazing. But he made three purchases leading up to the disappearances as, well, this included an order of duct tape on April 7th, fire starter, coal, trash bags, and lighter fluid on the 11th. And get this guys, this is a fun one. He also ordered a fake beard the day before they disappeared on the 15th. We then examined his phone. Entire history had been wiped clean. No text messages, no emails, no GPS data. His search history totally cleared. So it takes us a little bit of time, at that point, because we have to do a forensic deep dive onto the phone. And what we found by doing a forensic deep dive is where we found a lot of disturbing searches. He searches for, can a knife penetrate a skull? Can a neighbor hear a gunshot? Can you properly, can you not properly, can you bury a body in a trash bag and throw it in a dumpster? While he's conducting these searches, we also see a lot of disturbing searches. He searches for, can a knife penetrate a and discover that he's making purchases. Purchases for large heavy duty black contractor bags, Lysol wipes, duct tape, lighter fluid, a lighter. As he's ordering some of the items from Amazon, some of them come from DoorDash. I wanted everyone in the room to think about this. These searches were conducted days before our two victims went missing. This was calculated. What makes this so premeditated? Now, all of this obviously was and is absolutely huge for investigators and really, really bad for Hisham. Not only because this evidence largely points to the guilty party here, right? But also because the data informed them on where to narrow down their search efforts because they still need to find their bodies. So the first large scale search effort began on April 22nd at Sand Key Park in Colorado, California. The search efforts were in Clearwater and those efforts continued through the 23rd and into the 24th as well. However, once the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office had the knowledge that Hisham's phone had pinged on the Howard Franklin Bridge, which side note, they also confirmed that by his car's geolocation data, they went ahead and focused their search there. And that was ultimately when Jamil's body was discovered. This is just so disturbing. But around 6 a.m. that morning, officers responding to the bridge came across a black heavy-duty trash bag similar to the one that they knew Hisham had purchased. And as they approached it, you know, the unmistakable horrific smell that we hear about all the time, the smell of decomposition hit them. And this bag was then transported to Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office where the positive identification was made. And in the autopsy, it was revealed that he had suspected Hisham of being a victim of a crime. Several lacerations and stab wounds, including two on the right lower abdomen, one to the left of his belly button, and then another to his lower back. Just absolutely brutal. And not only that, his wrists and ankles had also been bound and he was not wearing clothes. The manner of his death was undeniably ruled a homicide. And the cause of death was listed as multiple sharp force injuries from a bladed instrument. While we're conducting this forensic deep dive on his home, we're going to take a look at his body. We're going to take a look at his phone to see where he had been days prior. We're able to determine that he had traveled over to Clearwater, the Sankey area. We confirm that by looking at a video surveillance from a nearby fire station that shows him get out of the car. And he's around the Sankey area over in Clearwater. He spends a short amount of time there. Then as we're examining the longitude and latitude coordinates, we see he goes on the Howard Franklin Bridge and he stops there for a short amount of time. So at this point, we make the decision to launch a surge full of manpower to go out and start an extensive search. Knowing that he spent an amount of time there, we should find and locate our victims there because we believe, again, he's not a suspect. He's a person of interest. We let him go. Yes, he's under 24-hour surveillance, but we're conducting this exhaustive search now at this point. Our divers who continued nonstop, our investigators, our professional staff that were out there helping any way they could, our aviation team, our drone team, again, nonstop. As some of our detectives are examining the latitude and longitude of some of where he had been, they're traveling northbound on the Howard Franklin Bridge, on the Pinellas side of the bridge. And they see a large black trash bag sitting on the shoulder of the road. All by itself, they stop. They walk up and as they're approaching it, they immediately smell that unique smell of human remains when it's in that decomposition phase. They go up, they physically feel the outside of it and realize that there's human remains there. They stop what they're doing, knowing that this could be evidence. We're in Pinellas County at this point. And they contact the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office who immediately responds along with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office. who takes custody of this bag and goes back. We learned during this that it is our victim, Zamil. We're able to determine that because he's in the early stages of decomposition. So we knew it was him through fingerprints that were obtained through the Department of Homeland Security when he had entered the country. When I talk about gruesome, he had been stabbed several times, which ultimately was the cause of his death. He was bound in front at his hands and at his ankles. His legs up towards his buttocks area was almost completely severed so he could be bent together and make it easier to place in a trash bag. He was left on the side of the road. As gruesome as this murder was, he was literally left on the side of the highway like a piece of trash. It is just devastating thinking about what Zamil went through. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Although, following this discovery, Hisham was arrested. Although, it's probably not what you think. Think about how wild it is that most of society works and waits, then gets paid. And that's the deal that we've just accepted. Meanwhile, you can get literally anything else instantly these days. Ernan has been changing that for over a decade. Up to $150. $150 a day of money you've already earned. Up to $1,000 between paychecks. Tips are optional and standard transfers take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. 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Ernan is a financial technology company, not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Standard cash outs take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. Expedited transfer is available for a fee. Tips are voluntary and don't affect the service. Available in select states. Terms and restrictions apply. Visit Ernan.com for full details. At 9.09 a.m. on April 24th, Wala Jamil's remains were actively being sent to the lab. Hisham's brother, Ahmad, called 911 to report a domestic violence incident at their mom's house. Now, his family lived not too far from campus. And earlier that morning, Hisham showed up there reportedly acting super erratically and honestly just fucking creepy. I guess he had taken a shower and was playing video games in just a towel. And at some point, his sister, was walking down a hallway when he approached her. And according to the court documents, he came up to her asking for a hug. And after she gave him sort of a side hug, he grabbed her and held her against her will in a front hug. And then this freak attempted to kiss her on the lips and asked her to kiss him. Thankfully, she was able to push him away and then go and hide in a bedroom. But can you just imagine how traumatizing and scary that must have been? This is her brother. She knows that he has this history of being violent. I mean, Hisham seems to freak everyone in his life out. So yeah, shortly after that, their other brother calls 911. And right away, the police realized that the caller was talking about the same guy they were looking into in connection to the murders. But when they got to the house and tried to get him to walk out peacefully, his ass wouldn't leave. So at 10.36 a.m., SWAT shows up. And finally, at 11.38 a.m., they were able to get him to surrender and come outside. Now, for my video viewers, you'll see this in the clip that I'm playing now. And if you're listening, I highly suggest looking this clip up because it is absolutely wild. But in the clip, you can see Hisham exiting the house wearing just a blue towel wrapped around his waist. And he approached SWAT with his hands above his head, just looking like a complete pathetic lunatic. As we're out there and this is occurring, and remember, this investigation is large, it's expansive, and it's very fluid and very dynamic. As this is occurring, we get a phone call from our suspect's family. He had been acting erratic. He got out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around him. He approaches his sister and begins to almost like a humping fashion, fashion trying to grind on his sister. And at one point, tries to kiss his sister. His sister has difficulty trying to push him away and she is not able to freely leave that confrontation because he's able to overpower her. He batters the family at the same time. So we try to make contact with him. We know he's inside the residence. The family tells us, and we have them under constant surveillance. We know he's there. He refuses to answer the phone. He refuses to come out. We make the decision based on the violent nature that we know he's in. So we're still working on that. conducting that search. We get a phone call two days later that two recreational kayakers are out again on the Pinellas County side. And while this is occurring, the deputies and Marine Unit are doing a great job trying to determine the tide and when they're occurring and what the tide patterns are to see, hey, how far of a search pattern do we need? The divers are still in the water. As you guys were out there covering, it was a long several days as we were trying to locate our two victims, especially now knowing that we have one victim, the other one should still be in the nearby area. As one of our kayakers is fishing, his fishing line snags on a bag. He has to go further into the mangroves. He smells something as he describes as undescribable. And when he went and got closer to removing the mangroves, he was able to see the mangroves. And he was able to his fishing line. He sees that a plastic bag has been open. There's been salt water in there. He can't tell what it is, but it looks like a human body. So he does the right thing and contacts law enforcement. We immediately relocate over there, contact the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit that's already out there with us, the Pinellas County Medical Examiner, Pinellas County Forensic Science Department, who came out and took custody. Unfortunately, because of the conditions that her body was left in, it was more in those advanced stages of decomposition and we weren't able to just do a fingerprint. So that's what took longer. Today, I'm able to confidently stand in front of you and tell all of you that we have located Nashida Bristie. We have contacted her family. On May 1st, the Hillsborough County Sheriff gave a press conference. And actually, the clips that I have been playing throughout this episode are from that. And this is really when the public was first made aware of the deaths that I'm sharing with you today. Now, the whole day, as you can imagine, was somber for everyone because not only were people now hearing the tragedy of what these two experienced, but a vigil took place to honor their lives. We're not alone as we grieve the loss of Jamil. Some knew Jamil Lamont. Jamil was very special. He was extremely bright. He possessed a deep, very insightful intellect. Others knew Nashida Bristie. Her fellow graduate students look forward to seeing her and talking to her. They told us about her love for music and singing, the umbrella she always had on hand to shield herself from the Florida sun, her willingness to help other newly arrived graduate students on how to navigate procedures at USF and in the U.S. that she herself had to figure out. Many didn't know either. As a student myself, I see myself in them. And being able to come here in community brings us all together. Fellow students from Bangladesh perhaps knew them best. We shared our food together. We stayed most of our time together. We have joy together. We have love together. Two close friends now remembered as one. To the families of Nahida and Jamil, near or far, this entire community is standing with you today. Then, one by one, each friend or stranger with a flower, processing toward their pictures, leaving them on the ground as a symbol, as a cry, a meditation, a promise, or a prayer. I hope we'll have a good world where we all can stay safely. Showing the rest of the world how one campus, one student body, and one community can come together. And as I'm sure you guys can imagine, this has hit both of their families extremely hard, especially because they don't live in the United States. So that makes everything much more tricky. They actually first found out through Jamil and Nahida's friends that they were first missing. And I don't think anybody could fathom a world where this would have ever happened. Jamil's brother remembers speaking with him on Monday the 13th. And since he was busy finalizing his thesis, they didn't call him for a few days. You know, they were giving him space to focus on that. And without knowing it, that was their last conversation. And I think that's why they're and Nahida's brother recalls her last conversation with family too. I think that's why they're still in the office or lab at the time. And after that, as it was already late at night, and after that, my mother contacted her the next day, morning, but she could not reach out. So after the Friday, we could not reach out. And on Saturday, I was trying to reach out myself. And then on Saturday evening after evening, I was trying to reach out to my family. And I think that's why they're still in the office. And since he was busy finalizing his thesis, they could not reach out. So after that, I was trying to reach out to my family. I think that's why they're still in the office. And we're really looking forward to that, of course. Here's a clip of both of their brothers speaking about the pain, oh my God, of finding out this horrific news. Jamil's body was found Friday. His brother describes getting the worst call a family can get. The police called me that night. And that night was the darkest night of my life. It was so long that it wasn't finished. They called me and said that a body was found, a body was found, and they couldn't. eventually go to trial, although not anytime soon. The next hearing isn't until December 10th, and the trial is tentatively slated for November of 2027. And in the meantime, there is a lot that their families and this community want to see happen, and a lot of questions they have that they absolutely deserve the answers to. Parents, back to school season is upon us. And this is my first year with my daughter in school. She actually just started preschool two weeks ago, and not gonna lie, I was very nervous thinking about all of the nasty bugs and, you know, colds, all that, that she could pick up at school. And I want to make sure that her immune system is functioning at best. Top-notch. And that's why we use Haya in our home and have for a long time now. Haya has become a huge part of our nightly routine. My daughter gets so excited for her Haya vitamin. 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No synthetic hormones like melatonin, no sugar, just calm support to help them recharge for everything they've got going on. And great for kids. You can now find Haya in person at Target stores nationwide or order directly from their website with a special deal that we've worked out just for you. Receive 50% off your first order on any of their products. To claim this deal, you also must go to HayaHealth.com slash TCKR. This deal is not available on their regular website. Just go to H-I-Y-A-H-E-A-L-T-H.com slash TCKR to get your kids the full body support they deserve. For starters, at the end of April, they released a joint six-point memo. And in it, they requested the following. Islamic funeral rights, accountability of Avalon Heights, justice and legal support, a return of their personal belongings, financial matters and family support, and a memorial in the victim's honor. And I want to talk about point two for a minute here because this is extremely important. In point two, as I said, they call for the accountability of the apartment complex. And I want to talk about point two for a minute here requesting that the university take appropriate legal action against them. And the reason for that is going to make your blood boil. It is ridiculous. It turns out that Jamil and their other roommate had filed multiple complaints about Hisham living there and nothing was ever done to address it. And one of those complaints was filed as recently as 15 days before the murders. I just could not believe that. And from what's been made available online, they were very upset because Hisham had a prior criminal record and they were never told about that when they moved in. He was also reportedly unpleasant to them, which I'm sure that's putting it nicely to some degree, and wouldn't leave their house for days on end. I can't imagine what it was like living with this guy. And I'm sure there was a lot more too, but that's just what's been said so far. And I'm sure also more will come out in trial whenever that begins. But yeah, despite them asking for him to be removed as their roommate, nothing was done about it. Wasn't taken seriously at all. And I mean, I don't know about you, but I would be so fucking livid if I found out that my randomly assigned roommate had a criminal record, a violent one nonetheless, and I was never told about that. It is just so irresponsible, so reckless, and like I said, absolutely ridiculous. It turns out Hisham was charged in May of 2023 with misdemeanor battery. And then again in September of that year with misdemeanor battery and burglary. His younger brother, Ahmad, who we've already talked about, was the victim of the domestic violence and had filed protective orders as a result. In one petition, he stated that his brother, quote, repeatedly punched me in the head. He ripped my shirt and made me bleed and gave me a few bruises on my face. In another instance, he tore up their living room and was screaming that he was God. And I'm not sure if that's true. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't that they all had to bow down to him. Now, I'm not sure the extent that Jamel and this other roommate were aware as far as the specifics of his criminal record, but they definitely knew he had one. And what's terrifying too is after the murders, Ahmad said that he had no idea that his brother was living with other roommates. He told CBS News that he thought Hisham should have been living on his own or even been homeless. And apparently he has been estranged from their family since 2023. And he said that he has been estranged from their family since 2023. And he so I feel so bad for their family. Ahmad feels just horrible for what has happened. And I really do appreciate that he has taken the victim's side in all of this and been so vocal. He shared this quote. He said, I can't stop thinking about all of them. I'm just I feel I just feel so awful. I'm really sorry about everything. I feel so my entire family feels so much shame and guilt. We tried to call attention to the fact that Hisham is a dangerous person. And obviously the police can't do much to prevent him from causing harm to others. But it absolutely should have been flagged without a doubt when he applied to live at that apartment complex, which get this, this pissed me off so much. Even though it's listed as an off campus housing option for students, he wasn't even a student. He was enrolled from spring of 21 through 2023, but hasn't been in the office for a long time. He's been enrolled since. Now, technically, the housing isn't exclusive to students. But even if that's the case here, proper background checks should have been completed, especially in student housing. And if they were completed in this scenario, and we just aren't aware yet, his roommates should have been made aware of what was found before living with him, right? It's just insane. Plus, action absolutely should have been taken when he was in the office. And so I think they filed those complaints. So that's why students have formed a petition calling for accountability and increased safety measures at that complex. It is entirely student run and not associated with the families. But I know they want the same outcome, which is for students living there to be safe and prevent something like this from ever happening again. So they're calling on Avalon Heights to hire an independent third party to review the safety policies they have in place, including how complaints, concerns and roommate change requests and safety reports were handled to release a public summary of those findings and any reforms they plan to adopt and create a written emergency transfer policies for residents who report credible safety concerns. They're also calling on the university to review how off campus housing options are presented to students, including ones listed on their university facing housing resources and to set basic eligibility standards for which off campus housing property may appear on their websites. And these points align with the points that were made in the family's memo. Now, the university has since removed Avalon Heights from their website for off campus housing. They're also reportedly reviewing conditions and safety measures in place at other off campus housing buildings. In a statement, the university said in part, while USF does not own these apartments, we recognize the importance of safety and well-being of our students where they live. We are actively working with law enforcement and relevant authorities as they investigate this tragedy, and we fully support efforts to examine all of these issues. Avalon Heights also released a statement saying that they are saddened by the loss of one of their residents and that they are committed to supporting law enforcement in any way they can through this investigation. And I think what everyone is wondering now is why? I mean, clearly Hisham is a very, very disturbed person, but what set him off to cause him to commit such a heinous act against not one, but two people and of course motive doesn't necessarily have to be proven to get a conviction but i know it's something that people want to know it's certainly something i want to know and it seems as if he premeditated this crime so it wasn't like a spur of the moment thing jamil's brother said that maybe it's because hisham found out about the complaints he filed against him but of course that doesn't explain why nahida was killed it could be a situation of wrong place wrong time but i really just don't know it doesn't make sense what i do know though is that both of them should still be here today that they had extremely bright futures they are both very very intelligent and we're going to do amazing things in the future for the world and the person who is responsible for this this reek hisham needs to be locked up for the rest of his life he should never see the light of day again and if you know the family is supportive of the death penalty i am too i was super happy to see that the university honored both jamil and nahida at their graduation ceremony in early may it's just so awful to look at though oh my god how heartbreaking they have two empty chairs that were placed in the front row during the ceremony and they did have a moment of silence for them and i was very very happy to hear but not totally surprised as this is pretty common but they were given posthumous degrees i mean considering the fact that they were given posthumous degrees they were given how dedicated they were and how hard they had each work towards getting their phds it feels like a really beautiful and important way to honor them jamil was so close to finishing his thesis on the use of generative ai to study the shrinking wetlands of florida which is very important work and according to his brother school was the most important thing to him and it really was for both of them i mean that's why they came to the united states in the first place to get the highest education they could get and i think that's why they came to the united states in the first place that they could jamil was even living in a different apartment and then moved to avalon heights so he could be closer to school nahida obviously didn't live there but it sounds like she did spend a good amount of time there with him and one thing that i just have to talk about in this episode too that makes me super upset is all of this chat gpt shit we are seeing more and more ai used in criminal cases and it is very scary i mean how can these platforms be used to aid criminals and how can they be used to aid criminals and how can they be used to aid criminals and then nothing is done to punish them there needs to be some type of safeguard in place obviously i'm not an expert on ai i don't know what that would look like but i imagine it could be some type of flagging system uh that alerts law enforcement if suspicious searches are made especially when that many suspicious searches are made and of course i get it is complicated and like i said i'm not claiming to have the solution here but i think it's something we all need to explore and talk about it's definitely something i'm hoping law enforcement is thinking about at this point but i get that they can't be on call 24 7 with weird bullshit that people are searching up i'm sure it's just millions of searches every day and there's a privacy issue there as well but i feel like if the technology is as smart as they say it is there has to be a way to flag searches that have more credible threats but the good news is it seems like there is some action that's being taken florida attorney general james othmeyer has launched a criminal investigation into open ai prosecutors are now taking a closer look at the suspect's digital footprint including his interactions with chat gpt in the days leading up to and after the murders according to court records on april 13th three days before the killings the suspect asked what happens if a human is put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster and how would authorities find out after the murders he asked our cars checked at the hillsborough river state park and on april 23rd what does missing endangered adult mean today two statewide prosecutors were appointed to investigate whether artificial intelligence played a role in the crime this week today i announced a criminal investigation into open ai over the murders of two usf students with a primary suspect consulted chat gpt before this tragedy took place the attorney general's office is working alongside local prosecutors specifically examining whether those interactions contributed to the killings and whether there could be broader legal responsibility for chat gpt developer open ai in a statement state attorney suzy lopez said this will let every big tech company know that when you create a product in the pursuit of profit the full resources of florida's prosecutors will join together to protect public safety in a statement about the investigation open ai told me this is a terrible crime and our thoughts are with everyone affected we're looking into these reports and we'll do whatever we can to support law enforcement in their investigation i definitely am going to be keeping my eyes on this and see how it goes i'm very interested to see if anything comes out of it if it can be improved in any way because i understand there's no getting rid of ai at this point you can't put ai back in the box i mean it's part of our lives but we have got to figure out a way to have it serve us better to make sure that it can't be used by criminals as basically a co-conspirator i mean if you think about it if chat gpt was a human in this case which at this point ai is really starting to feel very human to us right which is scary and a topic for another day but if he sham was texting these same things that he was searching to a human that person would be getting charged so why does open ai not receive a punishment or a warning or a fine or something a you know you have to figure out a way to better manage people like this or to alert authorities of credible threats or your platform gets shut down or i don't know i don't know we just something has to happen right this doesn't make sense it's obviously a huge discussion like i said i am not an expert i am so curious to hear your opinions on this case as a gpt side of things and just ai being used in crimes in general i mean it's a scary world should ai companies be held responsible not just for this case but in all other cases where these platforms are used to aid perpetrators and i mean so many other very disturbing things that you know ai is helping humans to do or information that has been given to young people i mean like i said i could just go on and on but it's a conversation we have to have because this is the world we live in now right this is not the first time that i've seen this this is not the first time i'm sure many of you have seen this in different cases that i haven't even looked into and sadly it's definitely not going to be the last but what i'm extremely hopeful for at the end of the day here to wrap on you know somewhat of a silver lining or positive note i guess which feels just horrible to say in this case um but you know you've got to try to see the light at the end of the tunnel to some degree and that light i believe is that hisham will be held accountable he is currently being held without bond thankfully until his next hearing um which is in december quite a bit of time to wait there but of course i just have to say he's innocent until proven guilty but uh yeah the evidence speaks volumes to me and i'm sure to all of you it's just duh of course he did this allegedly in my opinion but another positive note i want to highlight here which just speaks volumes is the effort of the sheriff's office and even the campus police they worked really well together they jumped right on things they handled this case very very well and they worked very quickly to get answers they really prioritized the case and you know they did get those answers even if it was not the answers that any of us wanted to hear you see that especially in cases involving minorities so i really appreciate the fantastic police work here also i wanted to update you that they have released the victims bodies back into the care of their families which i know was extremely important for them so i was happy to hear that as well and i'm going to link their gofundme in the description box of this episode or the show notes if you're listening to the episode and if you guys are interested and able to contribute i'm sure that would really mean a lot the funds are going to both families who are having to deal with not only the emotional toll of these impossible losses but also the financial burdens associated with it and as i mentioned my team will be reaching out to both of their families to offer them hope grants and i'm really hoping we are able to um help them in that way but that is going to be it for me today guys i wanted to thank you for tuning into this episode this is such an important one for so many different reasons and for all of you who may be watching this video i want to thank you for to the end of the episode and care about these victims thank you you are amazing people i love my audience so much i will be back next week to discuss another case and until then stay safe out there you

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Two University of South Florida PhD students, Jamil Limon and Nahida Bristi, were murdered in April 2026 after being reported missing; their bodies were later found in Clearwater and near the Howard Franklin Bridge.
  2. The suspect, Hisham Abu Garbi, Jamil’s roommate, displayed suspicious behavior, including injuries, inconsistent stories, and incriminating evidence like blood-stained items and purchases of cleaning supplies.
  3. Investigators recovered damning digital evidence, including cell phone location data, DoorDash and Amazon orders (e.g., duct tape, trash bags, a fake beard), and ChatGPT searches about disposing of bodies and avoiding detection.
  4. Hisham was arrested after a SWAT standoff, appearing in only a towel; he faces charges including first-degree murder, with a trial set for November 202
  5. The case sparked outrage over Avalon Heights’ failure to act on prior complaints about Hisham’s violent history, leading to petitions for accountability and safety reforms.
  6. Florida’s Attorney General launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI, questioning whether ChatGPT aided the crimes, highlighting broader concerns about AI misuse.

Summary:

The episode covers the brutal murders of Jamil Limon and Nahida Bristi, two PhD students at the University of South Florida, who vanished on April 16, 2026. Their friends quickly noticed their disappearances, as both were reliable and responsive. Investigators traced their last contacts and found evidence linking their roommate, Hisham Abu Garbi, to the crime.

Hisham’s behavior raised red flags, including fresh cuts, changing stories about a trip to Clearwater, and attempts to clean his car and apartment. A search of the dumpster and apartment revealed blood-stained items, including clothing, shoes, and a wallet, leading to the discovery of Jamil’s body in a trash bag on the Howard Franklin Bridge and Nahida’s body later in mangroves. Hisham’s phone data and purchases, including trash bags, duct tape, and a fake beard, showed premeditation.

” revealed his planning. He was arrested after a SWAT standoff, appearing in only a towel. The case raised questions about apartment complex negligence, as complaints about Hisham’s violent past were ignored.

Florida’s Attorney General launched an investigation into OpenAI’s role, sparking debates about AI accountability. The episode honors the victims’ memories, highlights their families’ grief, and emphasizes the need for justice and systemic safety reforms.

FAQs

The victims were Jamil Limon and Nahida Bristi, two PhD students at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Jamil studied geography and environmental science and policy, while Nahida studied chemical engineering.

They were reported missing on April 17, 2026, after friends and professors noticed they were unreachable and had missed planned meetings. Jamil's disappearance was officially reported to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office the next day, on April 18.

The suspect was Hisham Abu Garbi, one of Jamil's roommates at the Avalon Heights apartment complex. He was arrested after evidence linked him to the murders, including blood found in his car and apartment, and incriminating search history.

Evidence included blood found in his car and apartment, items like a pink iPhone case and glasses belonging to the victims in the dumpster, and his phone data showing trips to Clearwater and the Howard Franklin Bridge. He also made suspicious purchases like trash bags and duct tape, and used ChatGPT to ask about disposing of bodies.

Jamil's body was found in a trash bag on the shoulder of the Howard Franklin Bridge on April 24, 2026. Nahida's body was found later, on May 1, 2026, by kayakers in mangroves near the Pinellas County side.

Jamil's cause of death was multiple sharp force injuries from a bladed instrument, and his death was ruled a homicide. He had been stabbed several times and his wrists and ankles were bound.

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