# Beaten Iraqi woman in San Diego dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791 "2012-03-25T21:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/41 "2012-11-14T02:12:05Z")
The husband is arraigned for murder. [http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/574f3e969ef4497198f37be4aa5a6186/US--Iraqi-Wife-Beaten](http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/574f3e969ef4497198f37be4aa5a6186/US--Iraqi-Wife-Beaten) Regards, -Bouncer- ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/42 "2012-11-14T15:48:01Z")
> **[Iraqi Man Arrested For Wife's El Cajon Murder](https://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/nov/09/iraqi-man-arrested-wifes-el-cajon-murder/)** > > Case Originally Thought To Be Hate Crime **Bouncer** ’s link wasn’t working for me. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/43 "2012-11-14T16:33:31Z")
Try this link instead: [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083\_162-57548591-504083/shaima-alawadi-murder-iraqi-american-womans-husband-arrested-accused-in-beating-death/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57548591-504083/shaima-alawadi-murder-iraqi-american-womans-husband-arrested-accused-in-beating-death/) Looks like I nailed this one months ago… it’s just a shame nobody wanted to bet me that 5 bucks! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/44 "2012-11-14T16:48:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Try this link instead: > > [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083\_162-57548591-504083/shaima-alawadi-murder-iraqi-american-womans-husband-arrested-accused-in-beating-death/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57548591-504083/shaima-alawadi-murder-iraqi-american-womans-husband-arrested-accused-in-beating-death/) > Looks like I nailed this one months ago… it’s just a shame nobody wanted to bet me that 5 bucks! Hell, I think I nailed it in post 14, 8 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/45 "2012-11-14T20:01:12Z")
Shocking! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/46 "2012-11-14T21:59:17Z")
I knew it. This story set off my bullshit detectors right from the start. Everything added up to it being an honor killing, with the racist notes being red herrings. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/47 "2012-11-14T22:12:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hell, I think I nailed it in post 14, 8 months ago. You and several others did. I feel kind of gullible for not picking up on the obvious perpetrator. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/48 "2012-11-15T04:08:23Z")
What a shame. As if people aren’t already suspicious of Moslems from abroad! Hope he gets nailed at trial. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/49 "2012-11-16T04:20:58Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Like Matt Shepard? > > I have no idea who murdered the woman or why, but its not like bigots never beat people to death, so I’m not sure the manner of her death really rules anything out. I don’t recall white/American supremacist men ever doing this kind of thing to minority women. And, I don’t see racist women doing this kind of thing. So, I had the ping. Didn’t nail it as readily as everyone did who suspected the husband, tho. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/50 "2012-11-16T07:48:19Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > . . . Everything added up to it being an honor killing, with the racist notes being red herrings. Well, also remember that this particular family is Muslim, in the middle of a huge Chaldean (Christian) Iraqi community. Moreover, it would be very strange for some xenophobe to go into the heart of “Little Baghdad” and to kill one random woman and leave a note saying “go back where you came from.” It’s like going into the middle of Chinatown and getting pissed off because people are speaking Chinese. Usually that kind of attack happens when the victim is isolated and in a place where he or she stands out as being different. That wouldn’t be the case with this woman. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/51 "2012-11-16T17:31:23Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I don’t recall white/American supremacist men ever doing this kind of thing to minority women. And, I don’t see racist women doing this kind of thing. > So, I had the ping. Didn’t nail it as readily as everyone did who suspected the husband, tho. Given the culture she comes from, it was almost certain to be either her husband or her father. Again, the concept of “honor killing” is very much alive & well in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/52 "2012-11-16T23:44:09Z")
We live a few blocks from where this happened. I have to say, a lot of the earliest posts attempting to describe modern El Cajon are pretty far off the mark (“military?” Not hardly; horrid downtown - not at all) but anyway, my wife figured this one out within minutes of hearing about it. I tried to keep an open mind but she was proven right after all. What I find really amazing is that the husband/accused perpetrator came back to the US from Iraq after burying his wife (his alleged victim) over there. I think he must have been assuming that he was off scot-free. Good thing the local cops kept the investigation quiet and he did not pick up on the fact that he had become the prime suspect. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/53 "2012-11-17T04:57:11Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > . . . horrid downtown . . . I agree: there’s nothing “horrid” about it at all. However, there’s also nothing “downtown” about it, either. Neither word really applies. ---
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/54 "2016-08-17T20:10:31Z")
Turns out the husband was found guilty of her murder… > **[Murder of Shaima Alawadi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shaima_Alawadi)** > > Shaima Alawadi was an Iraqi-born American housewife who was murdered in El Cajon, California on March 21, 2012. > Alawadi, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen who had emigrated from Iraq in the early 1990s, was found beaten to death in her home. Alawadi's death was initially seen as a hate crime and that she was murdered for being a Muslim. Alawadi's husband Kassim Alhimidi was eventually charged and convicted for her murder and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. > Alawadi's family fled Iraq after ... Regards, -Bouncer- ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/55 "2016-08-17T20:25:29Z")
Thanks for the update. I’d missed this thread the first time around. Immediately upon reading it I thought of the “[sash weight murder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Snyder)”. In that case, the wife murdered her husband and tried to pin it on Italian fascists (the “Radicalized Muslims” of the day). Some things never change… ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/56 "2016-08-17T20:31:23Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > Turns out the husband was found guilty of her murder… > > [Murder of Shaima Alawadi - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shaima_Alawadi) > > Regards, > -Bouncer- Good. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/57 "2016-08-17T20:32:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m sure the usual suspect in a case like this will be investigated: especially if a new life insurance policy was recently issued. Two things murders always seem to do: 1. Take out a life insurance policy on their victims shortly before committing their crime; and 2. Retain their shoes, loaded with trace evidence. Even if they throw out their bloody clothing and the murder weapon, they always seem to keep the shoes. Of course, there is a high degree of selection bias at work: that’s what murderers _who get caught_, and so come to public attention, seem to do. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/58 "2016-08-17T22:42:27Z")
Wow. There’s a zombie worth resurrecting. Murderers can be extremely ignorant of forensic science. I love how some of these scumbags get hung by their own rope. It’s fascinating. A [similar murder](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/jagtar-gill-murder-trial-verdict-jury-1.3683620) occurred here in Ottawa in 2012. The husband and mistress were just found guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/59 "2016-08-17T22:58:07Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Two things murders always seem to do: > 2. Retain their shoes, loaded with trace evidence. Even if they throw out their bloody clothing and the murder weapon, they always seem to keep the shoes. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good pair of shoes? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/60 "2016-08-17T23:02:49Z")
A homo sapiens killed another homo sapiens. Is there some other issue in play here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791.md?page=2)