Charges filed in death of student
More than two months after a University of Wisconsin-Stout student from Saudi Arabia was beaten to death in downtown Menomonie, a Minnesota man with a history of domestic violence has been charged with felony murder in the case, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dunn County Circuit Court.
Cullen M. Osburn, 27, of Minneapolis, faces felony murder and battery charges in the beating of student Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, 24, as bars were closing early Oct. 30 in the Menomonie entertainment district. Alnahdi died the next day from a brain injury.
Osburn, who is not a student at UW-Stout, was being held in the Hennepin County Jail in the Twin Cities on Friday, awaiting extradition early next week, after St. Paul police arrested him Thursday. Osburn previously has been convicted of multiple felonies, including domestic assault and related charges of failure to abide by court orders not to contact his victims.
While Menomonie police said in the days after the beating that they did not have a suspect, they had phone contact with Osburn on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, when Osburn called a Menomonie police investigator who had been interviewing Osburn's friends and family in Minnesota on those days, according to the criminal complaint.
Osburn acknowledged to the investigator that he had been in a fight with Alnahdi, said he was scared, and promised to cooperate fully as long as his attorney was present. But then he disappeared, the complaint says.
Osburn's criminal record goes back to his teen years.
As an 18-year-old, Osburn was charged in suburban Minneapolis with making a terroristic threat after he allegedly tried to strangle his 16-year-old girlfriend, who had been trying to end their relationship, and told her he would "cut her face so no one would want her" when she refused his sexual advances. The girl alleged that Osburn told her his "dream suicide moment" would be for him to show up at her house with a gun and engage in a shoot-out with police.
Early morning confrontation
According to the criminal complaint in the death of Alnahdi, the Saudi student:
Alnahdi had been drinking at home with his roommates before going to the bars about 1 a.m. on Oct. 30.
He was standing outside Toppers Pizza on Main St., smoking a cigarette, shortly after 2 a.m. when he came into contact with Osburn, and the two men began arguing.
The criminal complaint does not provide any clarity about who started the argument, what it was about or anything that was said.
Osburn had gone to Toppers with four other people, including two siblings, and stayed outside while the rest went in to order pizza.
A friend of Alnahdi's, Evan Walters, later told police that he
was not with Alnahdi at the bars but saw him smoking outside Toppers and stopped to talk with him there. While they were talking, Walters told police, an unknown white male began to argue with Alnahdi in an aggressive tone. Alnahdi yelled back and they were in each other's faces, so Walters tried to intervene. The suspect pushed Walters away, and he didn't see Alnahdi get hit, but did see him fall to the ground. Walters and another man who had been with Osburn, William Hall, then tried to help Alnahdi, who had blood coming from his mouth and nose, and appeared to have difficulty breathing.
Hall later told police that Osburn did not push Alnahdi but “two pieced” him, based on what he had heard from a second friend who was there. “Two piece” was described as being punched twice in the face without a break, in rapid succession. The second friend, Deonte Hughes, told police that he saw Osburn swinging his fists toward Alnahdi after Alnadhi ripped Osburn's chain from his neck. Hughes said he pulled Osburn off Alnahdi and Osburn ran, according to the complaint.
A passerby who was near Toppers at the time of the fight told police that when she walked past Alnahdi and Osburn, they didn't appear to be interacting at all. But then she heard a disturbance, turned around, and heard an unknown male ask Alnahdi what he had just said. She saw Alnahdi put his hands up in the air as if to indicate he didn't want a problem with the man before the two began yelling at each other. The unknown man then struck Alnahdi. The passerby said she believed the man tried to hit Alnahdi a second time and that Alnahdi hit his head on the side of the building when he fell.
No evidence of hate crime
While authorities initially said they had not ruled out that the incident was a hate crime, they later said there was no evidence that it was. None of the witnesses mentioned in the criminal complaint reported hearing anything specific from the suspect or Alnahdi.
Police said they did not have a suspect in the days following the incident, but the same Menomonie police investigator who interviewed Osburn's friends and family in Minneapolis on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 did have contact with Osburn at that time. Osburn called the investigator after the others were interviewed Nov. 2 and said he "was very scared and wished to fully cooperate with law enforcement," according to the complaint.
Osburn was adamant that the altercation was "not a result of anybody's race" but did not want to say anything else without a lawyer present, the criminal complaint said. He said he would contact the investigator in the next few days and did call back the following day, but when the investigator tried to reach Osburn again because he failed to call a third time, Osburn's telephone number had been disconnected.
UW-Stout Chancellor Bob Meyer released a statement Friday after learning of Osburn's arrest.
"I hope this arrest brings some measure of peace and comfort to Hussain’s family in Saudi Arabia," he said. "They have gone through a living nightmare, and our hearts and prayers continue to go out to them. I also hope that Hussain’s roommates and many friends on campus also feel a sense of closure and relief with the arrest."
Meyer said Hussain's death affected everyone on campus, and especially international and minority students who were afraid for their safety.
"At the same time, I have witnessed many people reaching out to these concerned students to assure them that they live and study in a safe environment," he said. "I hope these efforts to help all students feel safe on campus and in the community continues."
“I hope this arrest brings some measure of peace and comfort to Hussain’s family in Saudi Arabia.” BOB MEYER, UW-STOUT CHANCELLOR