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update from February 18, 2011: Trial postponed for a second time.WBNG-TV Action News, February 18, 2011:The Broome County District Attorney's Office says the court has postponed the murder trial for Abdusalam al-Zahrani, 45, from Saudi Arabia.An examination by two Broome County psychologists this week determined he is incompetent to stand trial. [...]The DA's office says doctors concluded Al-Zahrani lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense.An order of examination has been issued, and he will be committed to a state mental health facility.He could be tried if and when he is found to...

Binghamton Professor Antoun, R.I.P. Bethany Stotts, December 8, 2009 Our prayers go out to the family and friends of former Binghamton University professor Richard T. Antoun, who was brutally murdered on Friday....

Story here. The suspect is named Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani.Ironically, his victim, Professor Richard Antoun is described as "a caring and gentle man who spent his life trying to dispel stereotypes about different cultures, especially Middle Eastern cultures"

SNIPPET: "Sudden jihad syndrome or just the crazy? I'll remind my readers that the two are not mutually exclusive categories. In fact, Aaron over at SOFIR has a pretty interesting typology of the "terrorist continuum" in which he posits that the more rational the terrorist the more likely they will be to need organizational help. At the other end of the spectrum are "lone wolves" who are characterized by a high degree of "internal disquiet". I've no idea if the grad student/murderer named Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani was motivated by Islamic extremism. I throw it out there because it can't be discounted...

An upstate graduate student was charged yesterday with stabbing a beloved anthropology professor to death. Saudi national Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani, 46, was held without bail for the murder of Binghamton University professor Richard Antoun, 77, an expert on comparative religion, authorities said. Al-Zahrani, a cultural-anthropology grad student, allegedly pulled out a six-inch kitchen knife and stabbed Antoun four times in the chest in the professor's campus office Friday.