Roommate charged with murder in deaths of University of South Florida doctoral students

Hisham Abugharbieh was arrested after standoff with police and charged with killing Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy

The man who was detained after two Bangladeshi doctoral students went missing from the University of South Florida (USF) has been booked with two counts of murder.

Hisham Abugharbieh faces two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, the Hillsborough county sheriff’s office announced on Saturday.

Abugharbieh was the off-campus apartment roommate of Limon, whose remains were discovered on Friday morning on the Howard Frankland Bridge over Tampa Bay. Bristy remained missing as of Saturday morning – nonetheless, unspecified evidence presented to the local state attorney’s office led to Abugharbieh being booked with her murder in addition to Limon’s.

The Hillsborough county sheriff’s office said it would “not be commenting on the findings in the case” against Abugharbieh “to protect the integrity of the investigation”.