TROY, Mich. – A 20-year-old Troy man who allegedly beat his aunt to death with a dumbbell has been bound over for trial.
Nayir Masrur, 20, is charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
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During the preliminary examination last month for Masrur, Detective Kristine Schuler testified that he killed his aunt then neatly placed a blanket over her body.
Masrur told investigators that he used a 15-pound dumbbell to kill Rubab Huq, 66, last November at a home in the 6500 block of Shoreline Drive.
Related: University of Michigan student charged with murdering aunt with 15-pound dumbbell in Troy
"He indicated that he hit her once in the head with the dumbbell, which caused her to fall to the ground," Schuler said.
She said Masrur admitted he hit Huq in the head with the dumbbell "a lot more times" after she fell to make sure she was dead.
Schuler said Masrur provided no reasoning for why he thought his family was going to kill him. He lived next door to Huq, who he told Schuler was not violent.
Family members sat behind Masrur in court to show solidarity.
What happened
A family member of Masrur called police last fall and said he was missing and in an agitated state.
An officer searching for Masrur saw him at another house on Shoreline Drive. Masrur jumped from a second-story window and fled through the neighborhood, according to authorities.
While the officer was searching for Masrur, he was called to the basement of the original home, where Huq was found. She was pronounced dead.
Troy police officers found Masrur about an hour later hiding in a marshy area near the home.