Seattle Jewish center shooting case now up to jurors
SEATTLE (AP) - The parents of a man who shot six women, one fatally, at a Seattle Jewish center two years ago hugged some of the victims and solemnly apologized Thursday after their son's trial concluded.
"We are very sorry for what happened," Naveed Haq's father, Mian, said in a barely audible voice.
Moments earlier, Naveed Haq was escorted out of the courtroom - his hands cuffed behind him, and his future in the hands of a Superior Court jury after a five-week trial. The 32-year-old Kennewick man pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to aggravated first-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges. If jurors find he committed the crimes, they must determine whether he will spend his life behind bars or locked in a mental hospital.
On July 28, 2006, Haq drove from his Eastern Washington home to Seattle and forced a teenage girl at gunpoint to let him into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Once in the second-floor office, he began railing against Israel and the Iraq war, and opened fire. He shot some people in their cubicles, some in the hall and one, Pamela Waechter, fatally as she fled down a stairwell.
One of the victims, then-pregnant Dayna Klein, dialed 911 after being shot in the arm, told an operator a man was pointing a gun at her, and handed Haq the phone. He gave the operator his name and Social Security number, said he wanted to get on CNN, and soon agreed to surrender.
King County Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz told jurors in closing arguments Thursday that Haq clearly had a mental disease or defect - one that prevented him from making friends or holding down jobs - but he was not legally insane. He knew right from wrong, could tell what he was doing, and wanted to get his message out, Raz said.
"The cost of that message was high and now it must be paid," Raz said.
Haq planned the shooting for days, left a shotgun in his truck because he believed carrying it with him would draw too much attention, hid in the foyer of the center to avoid detection and picked his victims in the small office, Raz said.
"He's not shooting randomly. He's hitting people, and these are people he wants to control, people who have tried to call 911 or are trying to get away," he said.
Defense attorney C. Wesley Richards said Haq had well-documented mental problems for more than a decade, including auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions. A defense expert diagnosed him as having bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies, and the evidence shows he wasn't in his right mind during the attack, Richards said.
"Mr. Haq had a delusional belief that by coming to the Jewish center and getting on CNN he could change the course of two wars, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Richards said.
"He thought he was going to save lives. He thought he was doing God's will."
Richards showed jurors a large, cartoonish diagram of a lit stick of dynamite, to illustrate the types of pressures that Haq was under, including financial stress, a long history of mental illness and a change in medication that worsened his condition. Richards said the medication change was the single most important factor leading to the shootings.
But Haq did not mention to psychiatrists the notion that he was on a mission from God until a year and a half after the shootings, Raz noted. The deputy prosecutor suggested that was a sign that Haq was trying to come up with some rationale for what he did so he could sleep at night.
"Imagine if your teenage son or daughter came in and said 'Mom, dad, remember when I wrecked the car 18 months ago? God was driving,"' Raz told the jurors.
Richards said Haq undoubtedly poses a risk and should be committed to a state mental hospital for the rest of his life.
Waechter, 58, was the director of the Jewish charity's annual fundraising campaign. The other victims were Klein, Layla Bush, Cheryl Stumbo, Christina Rexroad and Carol Goldman.
Stumbo declined to comment on the apology from Haq's parents Thursday, saying she promised the prosecutor's office she would not speak with reporters until after the verdict.
"We are very sorry for what happened," Naveed Haq's father, Mian, said in a barely audible voice.
Moments earlier, Naveed Haq was escorted out of the courtroom - his hands cuffed behind him, and his future in the hands of a Superior Court jury after a five-week trial. The 32-year-old Kennewick man pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to aggravated first-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges. If jurors find he committed the crimes, they must determine whether he will spend his life behind bars or locked in a mental hospital.
On July 28, 2006, Haq drove from his Eastern Washington home to Seattle and forced a teenage girl at gunpoint to let him into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Once in the second-floor office, he began railing against Israel and the Iraq war, and opened fire. He shot some people in their cubicles, some in the hall and one, Pamela Waechter, fatally as she fled down a stairwell.
One of the victims, then-pregnant Dayna Klein, dialed 911 after being shot in the arm, told an operator a man was pointing a gun at her, and handed Haq the phone. He gave the operator his name and Social Security number, said he wanted to get on CNN, and soon agreed to surrender.
King County Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz told jurors in closing arguments Thursday that Haq clearly had a mental disease or defect - one that prevented him from making friends or holding down jobs - but he was not legally insane. He knew right from wrong, could tell what he was doing, and wanted to get his message out, Raz said.
"The cost of that message was high and now it must be paid," Raz said.
Haq planned the shooting for days, left a shotgun in his truck because he believed carrying it with him would draw too much attention, hid in the foyer of the center to avoid detection and picked his victims in the small office, Raz said.
"He's not shooting randomly. He's hitting people, and these are people he wants to control, people who have tried to call 911 or are trying to get away," he said.
Defense attorney C. Wesley Richards said Haq had well-documented mental problems for more than a decade, including auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions. A defense expert diagnosed him as having bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies, and the evidence shows he wasn't in his right mind during the attack, Richards said.
"Mr. Haq had a delusional belief that by coming to the Jewish center and getting on CNN he could change the course of two wars, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," Richards said.
"He thought he was going to save lives. He thought he was doing God's will."
Richards showed jurors a large, cartoonish diagram of a lit stick of dynamite, to illustrate the types of pressures that Haq was under, including financial stress, a long history of mental illness and a change in medication that worsened his condition. Richards said the medication change was the single most important factor leading to the shootings.
But Haq did not mention to psychiatrists the notion that he was on a mission from God until a year and a half after the shootings, Raz noted. The deputy prosecutor suggested that was a sign that Haq was trying to come up with some rationale for what he did so he could sleep at night.
"Imagine if your teenage son or daughter came in and said 'Mom, dad, remember when I wrecked the car 18 months ago? God was driving,"' Raz told the jurors.
Richards said Haq undoubtedly poses a risk and should be committed to a state mental hospital for the rest of his life.
Waechter, 58, was the director of the Jewish charity's annual fundraising campaign. The other victims were Klein, Layla Bush, Cheryl Stumbo, Christina Rexroad and Carol Goldman.
Stumbo declined to comment on the apology from Haq's parents Thursday, saying she promised the prosecutor's office she would not speak with reporters until after the verdict.