Rochester Murder Suspect Held on $10 Million Bail
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Bail was set today at $10 million for a convicted murderer charged with being involved with the murder of a Rochester man earlier this year.
30-year-old Muhidin Omar Abukar was arrested Wednesday and was arraigned today in Olmsted County court on a single count of Aiding and Abetting 2nd-degree Murder in connection with the shooting death of 28-year-old Garad Roble in the early morning hours of March 5th along a rural southeast Rochester road near the Shoppes on Maine complex. He is the 2nd person charged in the case. 23-year-old Ayub Iman was arrested in June and also charged with Aiding and Abetting 2nd-degree Murder.
Abukar 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.
The criminal complaint against Abukar uses cell phone tracking and witness statements to link him to the crime. One witness told police she overheard Abukar and the victims speaking to each other and Roble asking Abukar if he planned to kill him. Another witness, who was in the Olmsted County Jail when Abukar was being held for a parole violation, told investigators Abukar claimed authorities were mad because they couldn’t pin the murder on him, and then appeared to take credit for the killing by saying he “gave him all head shots” and then “pop, pop, pop” while using his right hand to mimic a gun.
The charges allege the cell phone tracking suggests he was in a vehicle with Iman and the victim as they traveled to the crime scene and later put him at the location where the murder weapon was recovered from some ice on the Zumbro River under the Elton Hills Drive Bridge near the Rec Center.
Abukar is due back in court on August 27th. Olmsted County Sheriff’s Captain Scott Behrns earlier said that it is hoped the news of the second arrest in the case will encourage people with information useful to investigators to step forward and provide assistance through the Olmsted County Crimestoppers website or by calling 1-800-222-TIPS.