Crime & Safety

Three Men Charged With Murder in Jean and Scott Adam Case

New indictment against three alleged Somali pirates charges them with kidnapping, murder, piracy and other charges.

A grand jury returned an indictment Friday charging three men from Somalia with kidnapping, hostage-taking and the murder of four U.S. citizens—including members Jean and Scott Adam—in a that carries the for the defendants.

“Today's superseding indictment charges three men from Somalia with brutally murdering four American citizens held hostage for ransom,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride, for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This past March, the grand jury returned an indictment against these defendants and others with piracy in the armed hijacking of an U.S.-flagged yacht. The superseding indictment accuses these three men of summarily executing the hostages—without provocation—while the military was attempting to negotiate their release.

"With the additional charges, the defendants now potentially face a death sentence if convicted of these horrendous crimes, and the superseding indictment constitutes another important step in bringing to justice those accused of being directly responsible for the killing of innocent Americans," MacBride continued. "Today's charges underscore that we have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to attacks on our citizens.”

Fourteen alleged pirates have been charged in connection with the February attack on the Adam's yacht S/V Quest and to piracy charges with mandatory life in prison.

According to the latest indictment, three men—Ahmed Muse Salad, a.k.a. “Afmagalo,” 25; Abukar Osman Beyle, 20; and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, 29—boarded the Quest on Feb. 18 armed with guns and a rocket-propelled grenade and took the Adam couple and Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle, a Seattle couple, aboard the yacht, as hostages.

The three defendants took turns standing armed guard over the hostages and the U.S. Navy and the FBI on Feb. 20 began negotiating with the pirates to secure the release of the hostages. Two co-conspirators were transferred to a Navy vessel Feb. 21 to represent the conspirators aboard the Quest in negotiations. The indictment alleged that Abrar fired a shot over the head of Scott Adam and told him to tell the Navy that if the military came any closer the hostages would be killed.

A co-conspirator fired a rocket-propelled grenade in the vicinity of the Navy warship USS Sterett on Feb. 22 and the indictment alleged that Salad, Abrar and Beyle and other co-conspirators soon after intentionally shot the four U.S. citizens before they could be rescued.

The three defendants were among 14 people charged March 8 with piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and other charges and Friday's superseding 33-page indictment included the new charges of conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death; four counts of hostage taking resulting in death; four counts of violence against maritime navigation resulting in death; piracy under the law of nations and other crimes.

An arraignment for the three defendants has been scheduled for July 20.

The investigation of the case is being conducted by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Jean and Scott Adam departed for their worldwide voyage in 2004. A funeral service was held for them in March at St. Monica, where Jean used to sing in the church choir. The St. Monica Music Ministry in March also released a collection of music in their memory, with proceeds going to the Community Center Music Ministry Suite that will be built on the church's new campus.

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This article was originally published on Marina del Rey Patch.


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