San Jose Sons Arraigned in Alleged Murder of Parents Tells Police Someone Who Had Assaulted Him in His Home Made Him Do It
Two San Jose, California, brothers have been arraigned for the alleged murders of their parents – with the elder brother telling police a "stranger he could not name had "assaulted him" before forcing him to kill them.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Relatives of Golam Rabbi, 59, and Shamima Rabbi, 57, became concerned when they couldn't reach them on April 24, according to a Statement of Facts released by the Santa Clara District Attorney's office Friday.
The relatives called 911 when they entered the couple's home in the comfortable Evergreen section of San Jose and found writing on the walls and floor before they came upon one of the victims, who lay dead inside the house.
Police arrived soon after, saying both sustained multiple gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the statement.
The relatives who called police said the couple's two sons, Hasib Bin Golamrabbi, 22, and his 17-year-old brother, whose name has been withheld because he is a minor, were not home when they discovered the body.
They said they spoke to the brothers at about 9:30 a.m. on the day after the murders, which police say took place on April 23, telling them they were worried because they had not been able to reach their parents.
The brothers told them that they were in Oakland for an anime convention.
"When the brothers failed to show up and stopped answering their phones, they went to the victims' home, where they found their bodies," the statement says.
While Bin Golamrabbi did not call his relatives back, his younger brother eventually contacted a family member while police were at his house. Police located him nearby and interviewed him.
He told police that his mother was still sleeping and that his father was awake when they left the house on April 23. He said he and his brother planned to spend the night in Oakland.
He said they returned from Oakland on April 24 after their relatives called them. He said Bin Golamrabbi let him out of the car about two miles from their house and drove away. Police located him as he was starting to walk home, according to the DA's statement.
After searching for Bin Golamrabbi since April 24, police arrested him on Wednesday in Tracy, California, according to police.
His younger brother was arrested in San Jose that same day.
"There are no outstanding suspects," a police said Thursday.
Bin Golam Rabbi was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for murder. His brother was booked into the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall for murder. They are both being held without bond.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Strange Writings and a Confession
On Tuesday, investigators who analyzed the writings on the walls and floors of the home, they compared them to writings from notebooks found in the brothers' rooms and saw that one group of writings was consistent with the younger brother's writing, the DA's statement says.
Bin Golamrabbi revealed in a recorded, Mirandized statement "that he shot his father multiple times inside the garage because a stranger whom he could not name had assaulted him in the home and told him to do that," the DA's statement said. "When asked about his mother, he explained that he did not see her shot, adding that it was another person."
His brother said in his recorded interview that he was home when Bin Golamrabbi killed his parents. "He did not mention the presence of a stranger or any other person," the DA's statement says.
At Bin Golamrabbi's request, the younger brother closed the curtains after he killed their father. "Then Hasib killed their mother," the DA's statement says.
The younger brother said that Bin Golamrabbi told him to check the garage door "to make sure that blood was not seeping out from inside the garage," the DA's statement said.
The brothers then headed to the convention, "where they were seen to have been acting normally," the statement says.
Accused Son: 'I Want Everyone to Know What Happened'
In a jailhouse interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Bin Golam Rabbi said the real story behind the murders will become known.
"The best thing if anyone wants to know what happened is to wait for the trial," he told the paper from a jailhouse phone.
"I want everyone to know what happened, but I can’t say anything without a lawyer," he said.
Even though his younger brother, a senior at Evergreen Valley High School, was taken into custody, Bin Golam Rabbi told the Chronicle that the teen is innocent and had nothing to do with the murders.
Eerie Messages
Chilling messages were allegedly written on the floor and wall near the parents' bodies, including one that read, "Sorry my first killing was clumsy," a source told NBC Bay Area.
Another message allegedly ended with the words, "I can’t be like you, telling a lie. I can’t love someone without telling them."
Police have not confirmed the messages.
On Thursday, well-wishers placed candles and roses in front of the Rabbi's house on a quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac in memory of the slain couple.
Friends and family are shocked at the murders of the Rabbis, who immigrated to San Jose from Bangladesh more than three decades ago, according to the Chronicle.
They are being remembered as kind-hearted people who helped others who came to the United States.
"They not only brought us here, they also brought us food and shelter, at least until we found our means to survive," the Rabbi's 37-year-old nephew, Golam Mustakim, told the Chronicle. He added that the couple "displayed this same kindness to other families in the United States."
Funerals for the couple will be held Friday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Pat Guire or Detective Ken Tran of the San Jose Police Department's Homicide Unit at 408-277-5283 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (408) 947-STOP (7867).
