The ex University of South Florida student accused of murdering his roommate and his pal’s girlfriend allegedly asked ChatGPT questions about putting people in a dumpster, according to court docs.
“What happens if a human is put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster?” Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, allegedly asked the bot on April 13 – three days before Zamil Limon and his girlfriend Nahida Bristy, both 27, were last seen.
The bot replied to Abugharbieh, “It sounds dangerous,” before he said, “How would they find out?” according to the court docs, seen by the Tampa Bay Times.
Abugharbieh then peppered the bot with questions – asking if a car’s VIN can be changed and “Can you keep a gun at home without a license?”
It’s not known how ChatGPT responded to those two questions.
Abugharbieh, who pursued a bachelor of science degree in management at the university between spring 2021 and 2023, continued to ask questions on April 19 – three days after Limon and Bristy vanished, according to the docs.
“Has there been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head?” he allegedly asked.
“Will my neighbors hear my gun?” he also inquired.
Abugharbieh – who faces two first-degree murder charges – also allegedly asked the bot to define an “endangered person.”
He was arrested Friday after cops swooped on a Tampa home responding to an unrelated domestic violence incident, Hillsborough County Police said.
He barricaded himself inside the property and refused to cooperate for over an hour.
SWAT teams, bomb disposal teams, crisis negotiators and the drone response team were deployed before Abugharbieh was arrested.
Abugharbieh was wrapped in a blue towel when he surrendered to cops.
Limon’s body was found on the Howard Frankland Bridge, which spans from St. Petersburg to Tampa, but Bristy still remains missing but is presumed dead.
His manner of death was classified a homicide and investigators said he suffered “multiple sharp force injuries.”
Investigators searched the apartment Abugharbieh shared with Limon and they found traces of blood.
The blood spatters were discovered in “two distinct patterns on the floor which appeared to have a relatively human-sized shape,” according to court docs.
Limon’s wallet was found in a trash compactor, while glasses and a pink iPhone case belonging to Bristy were also discovered.
Limon and Bristy, a couple from Bangladesh, were reported missing by a friend who said they were unable to get in touch with the pair. Both of their phones had been turned off, investigators said.
The students had recently discussed getting married.
Environmental science student Limon was supposed to present his thesis the week he vanished and told his family not to call him unless it was a family emergency, his brother Zubaer Ahmed told CBS News.
Bristy, a chemical engineering student who lived on campus and was last seen near a science building, was described by the college as a “talented and promising student.”
“Her sudden passing has deeply saddened all of us,” Vice Chancellor Mohammad Ismail said.
Abugharbieh is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
He also faces charges of unlawfully holding or moving a dead body in unapproved conditions, failure to report death, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery.
Read the full article here
