Bail set at $1M for Glen Francis, arraigned in 1990 murder of Rashad Khalifa
More than 21 years after controversial teacher Rashad Khalifa was brutally slain in his mosque, the man accused of committing the crime is sitting in the Pima County jail.
Friday morning, Khalifa’s widow, Stephanie Hoefle, and son, Sam Khalifa, watched as Tucson City Magistrate Michael Pollard set Glen Francis’ bail at $1 million.
Rashad Khalifa, 54, was stabbed and slashed about 30 times in the kitchen of his East Sixth Street mosque on Jan. 31, 1990, according to court documents.
He had received several written and verbal threats before his death because of the way he translated the Koran, removed two verses and claimed to be a messenger of God, court documents stated.
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In the early 1990s, two Fuqra members were convicted in Colorado on conspiracy and other charges related to the slaying.
Colorado Springs police uncovered the plot to kill Rashad Khalifa in 1989 when they searched a storage locker in a burglary investigation, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.
Authorities found 40 pounds of explosives, notes that detailed when worshippers arrived and left Khalifa’s mosque, and when police patrolled the area. Police seized photos of the mosque and Khalifa’s followers. They found notes stating the conspirators hoped to stab Khalifa but also considered strangulation, poison and shooting Khalifa with a silenced .22-caliber gun.
Authorities said the notes indicated that any worshippers entering the mosque would be herded into a room and killed. Khalifa was aware of the plot before his death, Colorado officials said
Longtime fugitive Glen Francis, a suspect in the assassination of Tucson imam Rashad Khalifa, during his video arraignment on Friday, June 24, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. Ron Medvescek/Arizona Daily Star