An Oakland County assistant prosecutor said the fatal attack on a longtime Hamtramck jeweler inside his Rochester Hills home nearly a year ago by men posing as DTE workers “was not random” or coincidence.
“This was targeted and very well-planned,” Assistant Prosecutor John Pietrofesa told an Oakland County Circuit Court jury, who will decide the fate of Carlos Hernandez, one of two men charged in the October 2024 slaying of Hussein “Sam” Murray.
Pietrofesa told jurors during opening statements Sept. 30 that Hernandez had been to Murray’s jewelry and pawn shop a year earlier and that he came back in February 2024 to pick up those items. He said Hernandez asked to meet with the owner when he was there the last time.
Murray owned Gold & Glitter and Hamtramck Pawn Brokers, the types of businesses where, Pietrofesa said, people carry cash and have things of value at home.
Pietrofesa told jurors that Hernandez ordered DTE signs to put on a stolen truck used in the crime — a vehicle later found unoccupied and set ablaze in Detroit.
County Chief Public Defender Paulette Loftin told the jury it does not have an easy job, with unpleasant facts, photos and testimony. But the facts and testimony are important, she said, including the who did what and why.
Loftin said that while Hernandez was one of the people inside the residence, “the unfortunate death” of Murray “was not a part of the plan” and never part of the discussion between him and codefendant Joshua Zuazo. She said Hernandez did not take part in the beating of Murray and doesn’t fall into any of the states of mind needed for the felony murder charge.
There will be two juries hearing the cases, one for Hernandez, 38, and another for Zuazo, 40. Both are charged with one count of first-degree felony murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
Jury selection for Zuazo’s case occurred Sept. 29, with opening statements set for Oct. 1. Jurors were selected for Hernandez’s case Sept. 30, followed by opening statements.
Pietrofesa told the jury Sept. 30 that almost a year ago Murray and his wife were enjoying 54 years of marriage and grandchildren and running a pawn shop and jewelry store. He said their life was going along like a storybook, but it “doesn’t have a fairytale ending or a happily ever after.”
Murray, 72, was found bound and slain in the basement of his home in the 3700 block of Newcastle after his wife called 911 to report a robbery. During a preliminary exam in December, the county’s deputy chief medical examiner testified that Murray’s cause of death was neck compression. She also said he was bound with duct tape and that he had blunt force injuries to his head.
The pair are accused of posing as DTE workers the night of Oct. 10, 2024, supposedly checking for a gas leak but were not let in the home. They returned the next day and were permitted inside and went with Murray, who Pietrofesa said had just cooked food for his employees, to the basement.
He said when the basement door closed, that was the last time Murray’s wife saw her husband alive.
Pietrofesa prepared jurors for some anticipated testimony, including from Murray’s widow, who Hernandez “slugs” in the face and tells her to stop screaming after she questioned the pair about her husband’s whereabouts. She was bound with duct tape in the kitchen, Pietrofesa said, as Hernandez wanted car keys and cash and Zuazo ransacked the upstairs of the home.
Hernandez was arrested in Louisiana. Pietrofesa told jurors there was blood and DNA matching Murray’s on a pair of shoes found in the vehicle. Jewelry boxes and costume jewelry also were found in his luggage that belonged to Murray’s widow. And, he said, both defendants’ DNA was found inside the basement, at the crime scene and on pieces of duct tape that were used.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trial begins for 2 accused of posing as DTE workers, killing Hamtramck jeweler in home
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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