TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) 鈥 A former University of Arizona graduate student accused of killing a professor on campus showed premeditation and intent in the 2022 fatal shooting, according to prosecutors.
Murad Dervish鈥檚 trial began Tuesday and is expected to last two weeks in Pima County Superior Court.
Dervish, 48, including first-degree murder in the death of Thomas Meixner, who was shot nine times inside a campus building on Oct. 5, 2022.
Meixner, 52, headed the university鈥檚 Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences and was an expert on desert water issues. Dervish was in the master鈥檚 degree program in atmospheric sciences, which is within the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.
Authorities said Dervish was banned from the school in January 2022 and later expelled for ongoing issues with professors after he received a bad grade.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a case about whether or not the defendant was the one who pulled the trigger and shot and killed Professor Meixner,鈥 Deputy Pima County Attorney Hayley Weigold told jurors in her opening statement Tuesday, according to the . 鈥淲hat it鈥檚 about is the intentional killing of Professor Meixner and knowing right from wrong.鈥
Attorneys for Dervish have chosen to wait to make their statement until after the state rests its case. They may be seeking an insanity defense.
But Weigold told the jury that Dervish fled the scene after the shooting so he knew that criminal act was wrong.
Dervish was arrested after Arizona state troopers stopped his car on a highway more than 120 miles (193 kilometers) northwest of Tucson.
Authorities said a loaded 9 mm handgun was found in the vehicle and the ammunition was consistent with the shell casings found at the shooting scene.
According to a criminal complaint, a flyer with a photograph of Dervish had been circulated to university staff in February 2022 with instructions to call 911 if he ever entered the Harshbarger Building, which houses the hydrology department.
The complaint also said Dervish was barred from being on school property and he had been the subject of several to staff members working at Harshbarger.
Lawyers for Meixner鈥檚 family said Dervish had threatened the professor in the past and entered the building without being stopped or followed.
University President Robert Robbins said campus police tried to get Dervish charged two separate times before the shooting and took the complaints to Pima County prosecutors, but they were told there wasn鈥檛 enough evidence.
Meixner鈥檚 family filed a $9 million notice of claim 鈥 a precursor to a lawsuit 鈥 in March 2023, saying there were numerous ways the university failed to protect him and the rest of the community.
The school and the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state鈥檚 three public universities, with Meixner鈥檚 family in January.
___
This story has been corrected to say that Murad Dervish was in the master鈥檚 degree program in atmospheric sciences, which is within the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.
