Rochester Man’s Murder Trial Scheduled to Begin Monday Morning
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Jury selection is expected to begin this morning for a Rochester man's murder trial.
32-year-old Muhidin Abukar is charged with one count of second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of Garad Roble. The 28-year-old man was found shot to death in March 2019 along a rural southeast Rochester road just east of the Shoppes on Maine complex.
Much of the evidence in the case involves cell phone tracking the prosecution says links Abukar and another man to the murder. The criminal complaint also included a witness statement from a person who told investigators they overheard a conversation between Roble and Abukar during which the victim asked if he planned to kill him. Another witness listed in the complaint described statements Abukar made in jail that made it appear he was claiming responsibility for the killing.
The second man charged in the case, 24-year-old Ayub Iman, also faces a second-degree murder charge. He remains in jail on $1 million bail and has not yet entered a plea to the murder count.
Abukar, who has been held in jail on $10 million bail since his arrest in August 2019, was previously sent to prison in 2010 for a 2nd-degree murder conviction for his involvement in the shooting death of 32-year-old Ryan Nissalke in Rochester in 2009. In that case, he was given a 14-year prison sentence.
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