“Foreign student arrested for murder without sufficient evidence”. This is the headline you would expect to see or hear about another country or nation but not from the United States and not in 2013.
Ziyad Abid, a twenty-four year old Saudi National, was arrested and charged with murder. At the time of the murder, Abid was attending college in Warrensburg to become a pilot.
Abid was arrested for the murder of Blaine Whitworth a bar owner inn Warrensburg, Missouri. He was arrested on the sole statement of Reginald Singletary, a former employee of Whitworth’s, who later confessed to the murder and told police he was hired by Abid. Prosecutors have never revealed Abid’s possible motive. During questioning Singletary told numerous accounts of the murder plot in which he implicated the mafia, a gang, and lastly Abid.
Initially the judge set the bail at $2 million, but later refused to set Abid free. The family of Ziyad Abid appealed to Saudi government and the country to pay the bail amount. The Judge expressed concerns that the Saudi national would not return to the United States for prosecution and did not like where the money was coming from.
On Friday the news included a statement from attorney Lynn Stoppy, Johnson County, Mo., “Very recently, our understanding of evidence previously obtained from a critical witness has changed. As a result, the state is currently left without sufficient evidence to support the prosecution at this time.”
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, also issued a statement Friday confirming that there wasn’t enough evidence against Abid. “First-degree murder is the most serious offense that the State can charge. We have an ethical obligation to dismiss a case once it becomes clear that the evidence presently avaSingletary remains in jail on $1 million bond on the same charges. He has pleaded not guilty.ilable to the prosecution is not sufficient to proceed,” Koster said.
“We’re thrilled beyond belief,” Abid attorney Pat Peters said. “It’s depressing that a pathological liar can keep an innocent person in jail 11 months, and a circuit judge won’t follow the law.”
Singletary will be remaining in jail on $1 million bond on the same charges and has pleaded not guilty.