A Binghamton University graduate student who stabbed a professor to death pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree manslaughter.
Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani, a 48-year-old Saudi national, admitted in Broome County Court that he stabbed Richard Antoun repeatedly on Dec. 4, 2009, according to the Broome County District Attorney’s Office.
Al-Zahrani will be sentenced Sept. 9 to 15 years in prison and five years post-release supervision. As a condition of his plea, he waived his right to appeal.
He’ll likely be deported to Saudi Arabia after completing his prison term, according to District Attorney Gerald F. Mollen, who prosecuted the case.
In February, the court determined that Al-Zahrani wasn’t mentally competent to be tried for murder and he was sent to a state psychiatric facility. The Saudi Consulate paid for his legal defense.
Al-Zahrani’s behavior, as described by other students, was erratic in the days and weeks before he stabbed Antoun, a professor emeritus in BU’s anthropology department, in Science Building 1 on the BU campus. Antoun, 77, was an expert on cultures in the Middle East and had published several well-known works, including a book about fundamentalism.
In the days after the slaying, prosecutors said they didn’t believe Antoun was killed because of his books. Al-Zahrani’s roommates said he was upset about losing the financing for his doctorial project in anthropology.
