Haq guilty in shootings at Jewish Federation

When the verdicts were finally read, Carol Goldman and Cheryl Stumbo had to restrain themselves from cheering, clapping or jumping up to thank the jury.

For more than three years the two women have struggled to move past the summer afternoon when Naveed Haq, armed with two handguns and railing against Israel and Jews, forced his way into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and roamed offices and hallways in search of targets. When the gunfire ended, Pamela Waechter, the federation's 58-year-old campaign director lay dead and five other women, including Goldman and Stumbo, were wounded.

On Tuesday, facing a second King County jury after his first trial ended in a mistrial, Haq was convicted of eight criminal counts, including one — aggravated murder — that will send him to prison for the rest of his life.

The jury didn't accept the defense's contention that Haq was criminally insane at the time of the shootings on July 28, 2006.

"It was not insanity that led him to do this, but it was the hate in his heart," Goldman said at a news conference after the verdict.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg called the case "our state's worst hate crime." Haq is of Pakistani heritage.

"Naveed Haq's intention was to frighten Jews everywhere and instill fear that they could be the next convenient target," Satterberg said. "The jury held that holding extremist views does not make you insane, but it does make you dangerous."

After deliberating for about two and a half days, jurors also found Haq guilty of malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime statute, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of unlawful imprisonment.

Haq showed little to no reaction throughout the trial and remained expressionless when the verdicts were announced. Haq's defense attorneys declined to comment Tuesday, but said they will appeal the conviction.

A sentencing date has not been set, but the only two possible sentences for aggravated murder are execution or life in prison without parole. Prosecutors had decided before Haq's first trial that they wouldn't seek the death penalty.

Juror John Bennett, 60, of Carnation, said the jury convicted Haq based on "just the general evidence." He said there was nothing specific that tipped the balance, but jurors were not convinced that Haq was mentally ill when he stormed the federation offices.

He said jurors were "waiting for someone to tell us [Haq] was insane, and we never saw it."

Bennett said he wished that Haq had testified.

Another juror, who asked not to be identified, said the jury initially struggled over whether the killing of Waechter was premeditated first-degree murder or second-degree murder.

Once the jury agreed that premeditation was involved, it was easier to reach verdicts on the remaining counts, he said.

Haq's first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2008 when jurors were deadlocked on all but one of the 15 counts after nearly two weeks of deliberations. Prosecutors immediately announced they would retry Haq, but changed their strategy by reducing the charges to eight.

During the second trial prosecutors also introduced audio recordings of calls Haq placed to his family from jail after his arrest.

In the recordings, Haq was heard snapping at his mother when she voiced concern over his mental state, telling her that she "should be proud of me. I'm a martyr now" and that he was "a soldier of Islam" because he attacked the federation.

Prosecutors said they did not introduce the recordings during Haq's first trial because they didn't think the tapes were relevant.

The focus of both trials was Haq's mental state at the time of the attack. The defense did not dispute that Haq carried out the shootings, but argued that he was legally insane at the time.

The defense produced several mental-health experts who testified to Haq's mental illness. Defense attorneys had sought to have Haq sent to a state mental hospital rather than prison.

Prosecutors agreed that Haq has a mental illness, but contended that he was sane when he entered the federation and opened fire.

"He wanted to kill these women," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erin Ehlert told the jury during her closing argument last week. "He knew exactly what his intent was when he walked in there. He planned this."

Leading up to shooting

In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Haq's already fragile mental state began to unravel in increasingly dramatic and disturbing ways, his mother, Nahida Haq, testified at his first trial.

"He was very sick," she said.

Haq's life spiraled downward some 12 years after he graduated in 1994 from Richland High School in Eastern Washington, where a classmate remembered him as a calm and happy student.

He briefly attended dental school at the University of Pennsylvania but left after having a nervous breakdown and trying to commit suicide.

Stumbo, who rushed to the courthouse Tuesday from a doctor's appointment where she was being treated for injuries she sustained in the attack, said the verdict offers Waechter "the justice she deserves."

"It's nice to finally be able to move on and put this chapter to bed," Goldman said. "It's nice to finally be able to think happy thoughts."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com