{"id":249467,"date":"2026-04-28T10:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249467\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:58:09","slug":"university-of-south-florida-how-investigators-say-the-killings-of-two-students-unfolded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249467\/","title":{"rendered":"University of South Florida: How investigators say the killings of two students unfolded"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n As the suspect accused of killing two promising doctoral students<\/a> in Florida faces murder charges, authorities have laid out disturbing and grisly details surrounding the students\u2019 disappearance.\n <\/p>\n

\n Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27 and originally from Bangladesh, were last seen nearly two weeks ago<\/a>. Limon\u2019s body was found a week after they disappeared, and investigators believe Bristy was also killed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hisham Abugharbieh, Limon\u2019s roommate, has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in the deaths of the students. He is expected in court for a status hearing Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors filed a motion last week to keep Abugharbieh in jail while he faces the charges, laying out a detailed timeline of how investigators think the two students may have died as well as their and the suspect\u2019s actions around the time they went missing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s a look at what they say unfolded.\n <\/p>\n

\n Friends of Limon and Bristy are in touch with them during the day, but they\u2019re unable to reach them later despite repeated attempts, according to the motion filed by prosecutors Saturday in Hillsborough County Court.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bristy is seen on surveillance video walking on USF\u2019s campus around midday, according to the motion. A friend speaks to Bristy and agrees to bring her eyeglasses later that evening, but Bristy doesn\u2019t show up and doesn\u2019t answer the friend\u2019s calls.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bristy and Limon speak briefly on the phone several times, according to prosecutors. Limon\u2019s phone location shows him in the vicinity of his home and campus before going to Clearwater \u2013 roughly 32 miles from his residence \u2013 around 7:43 p.m.\n <\/p>\n

\n Abugharbieh\u2019s white Hyundai Genesis G80 is seen traveling in the same area within about 10 minutes of that, according to prosecutors.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phone and traffic data show consistencies between the suspect\u2019s and Limon\u2019s devices\u2019 locations throughout the night.\n <\/p>\n

\n About 10:30 p.m., a DoorDash order for trash bags, Lysol wipes and Febreze from CVS is placed from Abugharbieh\u2019s phone and delivered to the apartment door about half an hour later.\n <\/p>\n

\n Limon and Abugharbieh\u2019s other roommate sees Abugharbieh using a rolling cart to move cardboard boxes from his room to a compactor dumpster at their apartment complex, according to the motion.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Abugharbieh makes two separate trips to the Howard Frankland Bridge between 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., according to the affidavit, citing phone and traffic data.\n <\/p>\n

\n Shortly before, a ChatGPT search<\/a> on the suspect\u2019s phone asked \u201care cars checked at the Hillsborough River state park,\u201d the affidavit said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Meanwhile, Limon and Bristy are officially reported missing.\n <\/p>\n

\n The next day, police search Bristy\u2019s campus workplace and find she left personal items including her lunchbox, a MacBook, and her iPad.\n <\/p>\n

\n Authorities speak with Abugharbieh\u2019s mother, who says she last saw her son on Saturday, April 18, the motion read. She mentions that Abugharbieh struggles with anger management and was violent with his family in the past, according to the document.\n <\/p>\n

\n The suspect was arrested twice in 2023 on charges of battery, which were later dropped, according to court records. But after one of those incidents, his brother filed for an injunction that prohibited Abugharbieh from coming near him or his home. When the injunction expired last May, a request for extension was denied.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The Hillsborough County\u2019s Sheriff\u2019s Office elevates the status of the two missing students to \u201cendangered.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Authorities search a dumpster, in which they find a black cushion floor mat with blood, Limon\u2019s wallet, Bristy\u2019s phone case, Limon\u2019s glasses and clothing all stained with blood. Around this time, Abugharbieh gives authorities permission to search his car, to which they found all data had been wiped.\n <\/p>\n

\n Abugharbieh gave inconsistent accounts of when he last saw Limon and Bristy, according to the affidavit. He first told detectives the pair had \u201cnever been in his vehicle nor did he go to Clearwater.\u201d When confronted about his vehicle being in Clearwater, he said he went there to look for fishing spots and later changed his story again, telling detectives Limon had asked to be driven with his girlfriend to Clearwater, the document said.\n <\/p>\n

\n During these interviews, Abugharbieh\u2019s left pinky finger was wrapped in a bandage, a wound he later said he gave himself while cutting onions, the motion says. Detectives also observed a fresh laceration on his left upper tricep and additional cuts on both legs, according to the filing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors say Abugharbieh took to ChatGPT again on April 23, asking: \u201cWhat does missing endangered adult mean.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

April 24: Limon\u2019s body found, suspect arrested<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n Detectives searching the Howard Frankland Bridge find a black trash bag at a location phone data shows the suspect stopped at early on April 17, according to the motion.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors say the bag was similar to those found under Abugharbieh\u2019s bed. A man\u2019s remains was discovered inside and positively identified as Limon, they say in the filing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Limon\u2019s death was ruled a homicide, the motion states, citing \u201cmultiple sharp force injuries,\u201d and citing a medical examiner\u2019s report that noted a deep stab wound to his lower back that penetrated his liver, among other wounds.\n <\/p>\n

\n That morning, Abugharbieh is arrested hours at a home in Lutz, Florida, after law enforcement responded to a domestic violence incident involving a family member, the sheriff\u2019s office said.\n <\/p>\n

\"Hisham<\/p>\n

\n Abugharbieh made an initial appearance in court Saturday morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, he also faces charges of unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death with intent to conceal, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery, the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office has said<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Hillsborough County Public Defender\u2019s Office said it had been appointed to the case but declined to share details, citing Abugharbieh\u2019s right to a fair trial.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe remain focused on representing our client through the legal process,\u201d the office said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n A pretrial motion is released, with prosecutors alleging that Abugharbieh made several suspicious purchases on Amazon in the weeks before Limon and Bristy went missing, some as early as April 7, including duct tape, trash bags, lighter fuel and fire starter.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors say a ChatGPT conversation cited from April 13 shows the suspect also asked: \u201cWhat happens if a human has put a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster,\u201d to which the chatbot responds that it sounds dangerous.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHow would they find out,\u201d Abugharbieh replies, according to prosecutors.\n <\/p>\n

\n That same day, deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office say they recovered human remains from the waterways near Howard Frankland Bridge and are working to identify the remains.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the suspect accused of killing two promising doctoral students in Florida faces murder charges, authorities have laid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-249467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}