Pacifica man charged in fatal stabbings of pair might not be fit for trial
Criminal proceedings in the case of a Pacifica man accused of stabbing two men to death on a rural San Mateo County back road were suspended Wednesday after a judge raised questions about the defendant’s mental competency.
Malik Dosouqi, 26, is accused of killing 32yearold taxi driver Abdulmalek Nasher and 31yearold tow truck driver John Pekipaki late last month on Skyline Boulevard. Prosecutors have accused Dosouqi of “luring” the two men to the scene over the course of two nights.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the crimes on July 8, and attorney George Borges filed a request on Dosouqi’s behalf for selfrepresentation.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Robert Foiles expressed doubts whether Dosouqi was competent to stand trial and act as his own attorney.
Foiles appointed two doctors to examine Dosouqi’s mental state. The medical officials are expected to return to San Mateo County court Aug. 30 with their findings.
“We thought somewhere along the way it might come up, because we’re still looking for the motive for the crime and we always look at if it’s mental health driven,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The judge also vacated a preliminary hearing set for Thursday.
Prosecutors accused Dosouqi of making service calls for both Nasher and Pekipaki on June 17 and 18, respectively. He allegedly lured the men to the remote, wooded area of Highway 35 with the intent of stabbing them to death. Law enforcement officials are still investigating any links between the defendant and victims.
Nasher, who had a wife and 4yearold daughter, was remembered by friends and family as a man who immigrated to the United States from Yemen with dreams of financial security. His funeral drew more than 1,000 mourners.
The family had just moved into a new apartment the week before his death.
Nasher’s cousin, Abdulwahab Alghaithy, said he came to the States “for a better life to work, to build his future.”
Relatives of Pekipaki, who is survived by his wife and two children, said the tow truck driver had an innate desire to help people.
Other tow companies had turned Dosouqi down the night of June 18, but Pekipaki always came to the aid of someone in need, said cousin Rick Travels.
“He saw them struggling and he would help them do what they gotta do,” Travels previously told The Chronicle.
San Mateo County sheriff ’s deputies said they found Pekipaki calling for help in his last moments, after he injured Dosouqi in a struggle.
The defendant showed up to his first court hearing with his left arm wrapped in a white cast. Prosecutors said the arm was broken and cut as Pekipaki defended himself.
“John went up there to help, and I think the guy might’ve just taken advantage of that,” Travels said.
Some of Nasher’s friends and family want prosecutors to seek the maximum sentence in the case. If Dosouqi is convicted of firstdegree murder with enhancements for using a knife and multiple murder counts, prosecutors could ask for the death penalty.
The decision Wednesday came the same day an Alameda County judge declared John Lee Cowell, the man suspected of fatally stabbing Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station in July 2018, mentally competent to stand trial.