Man accused of killing USF doctoral students allegedly asked ChatGPT about disposing of body: Court filing

(FLORIDA) — The man accused of killing two University of South Florida doctoral students allegedly asked ChatGPT about disposing of a body three days before the victims were last seen alive, according to court filings.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon in the deaths of his roommate, Zamil Limon, and Nahida Bristy, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said. The two 27-year-old students were last seen alive on April 16, and a mutual friend reported them missing the following day after being unable to reach them both, authorities said.

Detectives located Limon’s remains on the side of a Tampa bridge on Friday, according to the motion. His naked body was in “numerous black utility trash bags and was in advanced stages of decomposition,” according to a motion for pretrial detention filed by prosecutors. There were deep cuts at his hips “to permit folding of the legs into the bag,” and his wrists and ankles appeared to be bound, according to the filing. 

The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Limon had sustained numerous lacerations and stab wounds to his abdomen and lower back and his cause of death was “multiple sharp force injuries,” the filing stated.

Human remains were recovered from waterways near the bridge on Sunday amid a search for Bristy, 27, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Positive identification has not been determined at this time, authorities said.

Bristy is “believed to have been disposed of in a similar way’ to Limon, the motion stated.

Motion outlines evidence of alleged premeditated murder

The 23-page motion detailed digital and physical evidence — including phone, shopping and other activity — that prosecutors allege show Abugharbieh committed premeditated murder.

On April 13, three days before the two students were last seen alive, the suspect allegedly asked ChatGPT, “What happens if a human has a put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster,” according to the motion. 

Prosecutors noted that ChatGPT answered “that it sounds dangerous,” and then Abugharbieh allegedly asked, “How would they find out.”

Two days later, he allegedly asked, “Can a VIN number on a car be changed,” according to the filing.

On the day the two students were last seen alive, detectives determined Abugharbieh’s vehicle was in the same area in Clearwater Beach, around the same time of the last pinged location of Limon’s phone, it noted.

Shortly before 11 p.m. that night, Abugharbieh allegedly received a Doordash delivery at the apartment of items purchased from CVS — “trashbags, Lysol wipes, Febreze, Funyuns, and Irish Spring Body Wash” — according to the motion. He had also allegedly ordered duct tape, fire starter, charcoal, trash bags and lighter fuel from Amazon earlier in the month, according to the motion. 

Around 12:26 a.m. on April 17, he allegedly asked ChatGPT, “are cars checked at the Hillsborough River state park.”

About an hour later, around 1:30 a.m., his phone stopped on the Howard Frankland Bridge, according to the filing. It was on the bridge again nearly three hours later, including in the exact location where Limon’s body was found a week later, according to the filing.

A third roommate in the apartment reported seeing Abugharbieh dispose of multiple cardboard boxes from his room to a compactor dumpster on site sometime late on April 16 or early on the morning of April 17, according to the motion. Limon’s wallet and glasses, bloodied clothing and Bristy’s iPhone case were among the items located in trash bags in the compactor, according to the filing. 

On April 19, the suspect allegedly asked ChatGPT, “will Apple know who is the new iPhone user after the previous user,” according to the filing.

On April 23, he asked, “What does missing endangered adult mean,” according to the filing. That day, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced it had elevated the status of the two missing USF students to endangered. 

Other ChatGPT messages noted in the filing focused on firearms, according to the motion. Abugharbieh allegedly asked on April 15 if you can “keep a gun at home with out a license,” and, on April 19, “will my neighbors hear my gun” and “Has there been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head,” according to the motion.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Suspect denies any role in disappearance

Blood evidence was uncovered in the apartment, including the suspect’s room, where there were two “distinct patterns on the floor which appeared to have a relatively humansized shape,” the filing stated.

Trash bags found under the suspect’s bed were similar to the ones located in the compactor and on the bridge, according to the filing.

Abugharbieh was interviewed by detectives multiple times and denied having anything to do with their disappearance, according to the motion.

When asked about his vehicle being in Clearwater Beach on April 16, he allegedly initially said he was fishing, according to the filing. When confronted about Limon’s phone also being in the area, he allegedly said he drove Limon and Bristy to Clearwater Beach at Limon’s request, and said that they were “both alive when he dropped them off,” the filing stated. 

When asked about the boxes in the compactor, Abugharbieh “advised he removed old clothing he no longer wanted,” the filing stated.

He had lacerations on his left pinky, which he allegedly told detectives were from cutting onions, as well as his upper tricep area and left and right legs, according to the filing.

“Based on the totality of the circumstances, interviews, evidence, and data, evidence would show Hisham Abugharbieh utilized a bladed instrument to fatally wound Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy multiple times which caused their deaths,” the filing stated.   

The motion does not state an alleged motive in the crime.

Prosecutors seek no bond

Abugharbieh is being held without bond and his next detention hearing is set for Tuesday morning.

The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said prosecutors “will argue that Abugharbieh remains a danger to our community and should be held without bond until trial.”

“Our hearts are with both students’ families during this incredibly difficult time, and we are keeping them in our thoughts as they await answers,” State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement.

The suspect has been assigned a public defender. The public defender for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Abugharbieh was arrested on Friday. He had barricaded himself at a residence and surrendered following a brief standoff, authorities said. He was seen exiting the home with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

The suspect is not a current USF student or employee, school officials said.

A family member told investigators that Abugharbieh “was known to struggle with managing his anger and was violent with family in the past,” according to the motion.

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