Florida trial starts for widow of mass killer
▶ Noor Salman says she was an abused wife who knew nothing about the nightclub attack in which 49 died
Two years after Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people in a Florida nightclub, the trial of his widow Noor Salman on charges of helping him to plan the massacre is due to begin today.
The trial could last more than three weeks and threatens to reopen deep feelings of grief among a community that was shocked by what at the time was the worst mass shooting in modern American history.
Mateen was shot dead after the murders in the Pulse nightclub.
Ms Salman, who could spend the rest of her life in prison if convicted, insists she did not know about her husband’s plans but prosecutors claim she accompanied him as he cased the nightclub and later misled FBI agents about how much she knew.
Her defence team pleaded not guilty, saying she was an abused wife too frightened to defy Mateen’s orders.
In her first interview months after the 2016 attack, Ms Salman told The New York Times: “I was unaware of everything. I don’t condone what he has done. I am very sorry for what has happened. He has hurt a lot of people.”
She said her husband started abusing her six months into the marriage and had continued to beat her even when she was pregnant.
Ms Salman, 31, was arrested in January last year while staying with relatives in the San Francisco area and has been in detention ever since.
The case raises difficulties for the prosecutors and the defence.
Prosecuting lawyers must handle the fraught issue of an abused wife, and the case is likely to revive the worst memories of the attack, particularly among the gay community who frequented the club.
“While the horrific terror attack at Pulse left a solemn impact on our state, Floridians have shown incredible resiliency, bravery and love in the face of this extreme loss,” said Rick Scott, the governor of Florida.
Such was the impact of the attack, which also injured 58 people, that selecting a jury took eight days.
Candidates with personal connections to the dead or the wounded, or who could not set aside their feelings about the tragedy, were weeded out.
FBI investigators say Mateen declared allegiance to ISIL during the shooting.
Prosecutors must prove that Ms Salman knowingly took part in his plan to “provide material support” to a foreign terrorist organisation.
The prosecution case hinges in part on statements made by Ms Salman.
In previous court hearings, FBI agents have described how she said her husband had been looking at jihadist websites and videos every day during the two years before the attack.
Ricardo Enriquez, a special agent and polygraph examiner, said Ms Salman had driven around the Pulse nightclub for 20 minutes just a week before the shooting.
Mr Enriquez said that on one occasion Mateen had even told her the club was the target.
And the FBI quoted Ms Salman as writing in a statement: “I am sorry for what happened. I wish I’d go back and tell his family and the police what he was going to do.”
But her defence lawyers say Ms Salman was questioned without a lawyer present and was not told her rights until later, when she was given a lie detector test at an FBI office.
Prosecutors are also hoping to seize a string of purchases made before the attack.
Although Mateen, the family’s sole breadwinner, had a salary of about $30,500, the couple made major cash withdrawals amounting to about $5,500, and charged another $25,000 to credit cards.
A diamond ring valued at $8,000 was among jewellery the couple bought, and they spent about $1,200 on electronics, prosecution documents show.