Google searches suggest Haq was hunting for targets

Searching Google, it took Naveed Haq just under 15 minutes to find his target just before he left his Tri-Cities home for Seattle, where he would shoot six women at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

According to the testimony of a Seattle police computer-forensic specialist Thursday in Haq's murder trial, Haq sat down at his laptop just after 5:15 p.m. on July 27, 2006, and began entering Internet search terms.

The string of searches he performed, which appears to have begun randomly and soon led him to the Jewish Federation, offers insight into Haq's actions in the hours and days before the shooting rampage, which left one woman dead.

Haq, 32, is charged with multiple crimes, including one count of aggravated murder in the slaying of Pamela Waechter, five counts of attempted aggravated murder and violating the state's hate-crime law. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Haq began with a search for "AIPAC in Sacramento," testified detective Timothy Luckie, showing the King County Superior Court jury snapshots of the Internet pages. "AIPAC" stands for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group.

Haq then searched for "future AIPAC events," "evangelists," "national evangelical events" and "AIPAC in Seattle" before he landed on the home page of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Luckie said.

After plugging in "current Jewish Federation events," Haq visited Mapquest.com, where he mapped directions for the 227-mile, 3-½-hour trip from his parents' home in Pasco to the Belltown offices of the federation, according to the testimony.

His search took just under 15 minutes. The following day, about 4 p.m., Haq forced his way into the federation offices with two guns and opened fire.

Detectives also uncovered other Internet searches they say relate to the shootings. Early on the morning of July 23 — five days before he drove to Seattle and four days before he purchased a .45-caliber Ruger at a Kennewick sports shop — Haq searched "Iranian Americans in Congress," "Asians in Congress," "Jews in Congress" and "Jews in the House of Representatives," Luckie said.

Victims have testified that Haq, of Pakistani descent, made anti-Semitic statements before and during the slayings.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com