ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – The two men accused of posing as DTE Energy workers and killing a 72-year-old man inside his Oakland County home were bound over for trial Tuesday.
Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, and Joshua Zuazo, 39, have been charged with felony murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
They are accused of posing as utility workers to get inside the home of Linda Murray and her husband Hussein, who was the owner of a Hamtramck jewelry store.
Linda was allegedly tied up with duct tape and hit by the defendants, and her husband was killed in the basement of their home.
“Based upon all of the testimony of these witnesses, based upon all of the exhibits that have been entered, this prosecution has met their burden by probable cause standard and this court finds probable cause that the defendants committed the crime,” said 52-3 District Court Judge Laura Polizzi. “This court will bind over to the circuit court.”
Wife of murdered Rochester Hills man testifies
Linda Murray testified Tuesday about how the two defendants showed up at their Oakland County home on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.
She said the two men showed up to the house on Oct. 10 and told them they were with DTE Energy and needed to check for a gas leak.
Her husband didn’t let the men in because it was late, and the men told the Murrays that they would be back the following day.
Linda said the men returned the following day at around 10 or 11 a.m.
Her husband led them to the basement because Hernandez said they needed to check something with their furnace.
Linda said they were downstairs for about 10 to 15 minutes and she didn’t really hear much while they were down there.
After that, Hernandez came up the stairs, and Zuazo followed right behind.
Her husband wasn’t with them. They asked where the safe was and she said they didn’t have one. The defendants also asked about money and the jewelry, which she said wasn’t kept at the house and was in a safety deposit box.
Linda asked where Hussein was and noticed blood on Zuazo’s vest. She started to scream and said Hernandez struck her.
Watch the video below for Linda Murray’s full testimony.
Hussein Murray’s cause of death
Oakland County Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Shauna Bryan testified about Hussein’s cause of death, which she said was neck compression.
When she was asked how the compression would have had to last to cause death, she said it depends on the person, but it would’ve been a couple of minutes for Hussein.
“He’s tied up, he’s older, he probably can’t struggle and fight back as much so I’d say a matter of minutes,” Bryan said. “Less than 10 minutes I would say.”
He had broken bones in his neck, bruises and bleeding, and also sustained blunt force trauma to his head, and his jaw was broken.
She said the neck injuries were consistent with someone being stomped on.
Several witnesses give testimony
Besides Linda and Bryan, several others testified during the preliminary examination, including Hernandez’s mother-in-law, an Oakland County deputy, and a forensic analysis expert.
To read the full updates of each person’s testimony, visit here.
Attorney asks for charges to be dismissed
As the hearing was about to start on Tuesday, Zuazo said he wanted Michael McCarthy to be removed as his attorney because he didn’t think he was doing enough while handling the case and didn’t feel comfortable with him.
Polizzi said it was too late to make this request.
After the two men were bound over, McCarthy also asked for the charges against Zuazo to be dismissed because he claimed there was a delay in his arraignment.
Polizzi denied the motion.
“This is a murder case,” said Polizzi. “These charges are extremely serious and I don’t believe that there was any unreasonable delay, so for that reason, your motion is denied.”
Defendants bound over for trial
Hernandez and Zuazo were bound over to circuit court for trial.
No future court dates were set during the hearing.
Watch: Hearing for fake DTE workers
The following videos include the full hearing of Hernandez and Zuazo split into two parts.
