Trial in U of A professor's killing includes graphic details of campus shooting

The former graduate student accused of shooting a University of Arizona professor to death on campus in October 2022 had a plan that he executed with intent, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in opening statements of his murder trail in Pima County Superior Court.

“It’s going to be really important through the course of this trial to pay attention to what the defendant did before, during and after the event,” Deputy County Attorney Hayley Weigold told jurors on the first day of trial for Murad Dervish.

Dervish, 48, who had been expelled, is accused of fatally shooting Thomas Meixner, a professor who headed the UA’s Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences.

Weigold, who is prosecuting the case along with Mark Hotchkiss, detailed incidents leading up to the day of the deadly shooting and the aftermath.

“This isn’t a case about whether or not the defendant was the one who pulled the trigger and shot and killed Professor Meixner,” Weigold said. “What it’s about is the intentional killing of Professor Meixner and knowing right from wrong.”

“A lot of evidence is going to be presented that shows premeditation, the plan or intentional killing of Professor Meixner,” said Weigold. “It also shows that at the time of shooting Professor Meixner, he (Dervish) knew that criminal act was wrong.”

Defense attorneys did not make opening statements. Instead they went on to cross examine four witnesses for the prosecution: two UA police officers, a former assistant dean and a former grad student.

Months before the incident occurred, Dervish had been expelled from the university for ongoing issues with professors after receiving a bad grade, according to the expulsion letter presented by the prosecution that was dated Feb. 2, 2022.

Police records show that Dervish, who was not allowed on campus post the expulsion, was said to have had anger management and mental health issues and had been sending aggressive and threatening emails to different faculty members, including Meixner, over time.

“You goddamn f***ing piece of s*** trash department needs to fix your own terrible decisions,” said Hotchkiss, reading an email that Dervish sent at 1 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2021 to Veda Kowalski, the UA’s former dean of students, who was on the witness stand. “I’m not going to fix it or help you fix it. If you don’t, I promise the consequences are going to be absolutely catastrophic,” the email said.

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Dervish was also said to have sent an email to Meixner with the words “I hope somebody blows your f***ing head off.”

The UAPD officers were brought on next to detail their response to the aftermath of the shooting.

Corporal Elvis Sierra with the UAPD, the third witness and the officer who attempted to render life-saving aid to Meixner, said he found bullet wounds on his neck, just below his right nipple, armpit, ribs and right leg. Prosecutors also played the recording of the 9-1-1 call made by one of the four people in Meixner’s office during the shooting reporting that the professor had been shot in the chest four times.

Meixner’s wife and son held hands in the courtroom Tuesday as they listened to the often graphic testimony.

Tuesday’s testimony ended with former grad student Kayla McCauley, who called 911 when she saw Dervish in the UA’s Harshbarger building. McCauley said she was in a colleague’s office when she heard gunfire.

On Wednesday Dervish, dressed in a gray suit with no tie, rarely turned his head away from the witness stand as three of Meixner’s co-workers described the terrifying moments leading up to the shooting.

Guadalupe Romero, who worked in the same office as Meixner, said she heard the office door swing open and shots fired. She threw herself under her desk, unaware of what was about to transpire. From her hiding position, Romero said she heard scuffles and gunfire coming within two feet of her head.

When she felt safe, Romero climbed out from beneath the desk and saw Meixner on the ground. His breath was labored, she said. He never spoke a word. His eyes rolled back, he turned pale and his coworkers begged him to fight until paramedics arrived, Romero said.

Prior to the shooting, Meixner’s co-worker Tim Corley went looking to speak with Meixner that afternoon when he first noticed Dervish in the building’s hallway. Corley said the two passed each other and he immediately knew it was Dervish. He also immediately knew that the former grad student was expelled from campus.

“I had a moment of disbelief that it was actually him,” Corley said. The two were just feet away from each other, staring each other in the eye. Corley continued toward Meixner’s office, where the women inside confirmed Dervish’s expulsion.

Corley said he heard 3-4 shots fired down the hall, then saw Meixner “running for his life”. He made it to the front door of his office and collapsed. Dervish followed Meixner, he said. Then, he fired his weapon four times at Meixner, who was on the ground, Corley testified.

Romero asked Corley if he knew the identity of the shooter because she and her coworkers didn’t get a good look from under their desks. “It was Dervish,” Corley said he told them.