3 slain in NC for religion or in parking space dispute?

Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

Police are trying to determine whether hate played any role in the killing of three Muslims, a crime they said was sparked by a neighbor’s long-simmering anger over parking and noise inside their condominium complex.

Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, describes himself as a “gun toting” atheist. Neighbors say he always seemed angry and confrontational. His ex-wife said he was obsessed with the shooting-rampage movie “Falling Down” and showed “no compassion at all” for other people.

His current wife, Karen Hicks, said he “champions the rights of others” and said the killings “had nothing do with religion or the victims’ faith.” Later Wednesday, she issued another statement, saying she’s divorcing him.

Hicks appeared in court Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths Tuesday of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. He pleaded indigence and was appointed a public defender.

Officers were summoned by a neighbor who called 911 reporting five to 10 shots and the sound of people screaming.

The women’s father, Mohammad Abu-Salha, said police told him each was shot in the head inside the couple’s apartment, and that he, for one, is convinced it was a hate crime.