Police have released few details but authorities have said the couple had been shot to death inside their home.
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The older of two brothers suspected of killings their parents in San Jose, Calif., says in a jailhouse interview that his teenage brother was not involved in the slayings.
The couple’s bodies were discovered about 1:47 pm Sunday in their Quimby neighborhood home in the 3000 block of Lucas Court.
The parents were found shot to death over the weekend in their San Jose home.
Police have not disclosed what led them to identify the sons as their parents’ alleged killers.
Hasib Golamrabbi, 22, also said a stranger who assaulted him told him to shoot his father, San Jose police Sgt. Patrick Guire said in court documents accompanying a criminal complaint filed Friday. Investigators compared the messages with notebooks found in the brothers’ bedrooms and found characteristics consistent with the younger brother’s writing.
The police statement did not mention what might have motivated the murder.
Both brothers pleaded not guilty to the murder charges at their arraignment, but they waived a preliminary hearing and experts say that usually means a guilty plea is planned.
The killings, which were the 15th and 16th homicides of the year in San Jose, rattled the serene foothill community where they have lived for decades.
Police said it will be up to the district attorney’s office to determine if the 17-year-old will be tried as an adult. Each had been shot at least once.
While the brothers did not give a motive for the killings, sources say it could have come after the parents announced their disapproval for Hasib Bin Golamrabbi’s sexual orientation.
But then the brothers stopped answering their phones.
Friends made the discovery when they went to Golam and Shamima Rabbi’s home and entered through an unlocked glass door when they did not hear from the couple for days.
Older brother says his sibling is innocent.
“I want everyone to know what happened”.
It was not immediately clear if the suspects have attorneys.
“Everybody is praying that it’s somebody else who did this and not the kids”, said Abdul Jaka, a co-founder of the mosque where the couple worshipped and attended holiday celebrations and other events.
Alexis Quinones, a longtime friend and classmate of Omar Golamrabbi, said she believes he is innocent. Omar Golamrabbi was arrested in San Jose. The double slaying and the arrest of the sons Thursday have horrified the tight-knit Muslim community.
Prayer and burial services for the couple were expected to be held Friday.
“I just told him, ‘Hey you better be careful.’ He laughed and said ‘Oh yeah, I am very careful, ‘ ” Rahim said. Golam Rabbi worked as an engineer and Shamima Rabbi worked as an accountant.
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Mosque spokesman Faisal Yazadi did not know about the arrest of the younger son until notified by a reporter. “The fact that we can offer the final prayer for them gives us some kind of spiritual consolation”.
