Catherine Rusoff
A former University of Arizona graduate student was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a hydrology professor on campus, months after he was expelled.
A Pima County Superior Court jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching a verdict against Murad Dervish, 48, in death of Thomas Meixnerwho was shot 11 times near his office in October 2022.
Dervish was also convicted of five other criminal charges, including aggravated assault for a bullet that grazed a building manager. Dervish, who showed no emotion as the verdicts were read, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. He could face life in prison.
University of Arizona
Meixner, 52, headed the university’s Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. Dervish was in the master’s program in atmospheric sciences.
Authorities said Dervish was banned from school in January 2022 and later expelled for ongoing problems with teachers after receiving a bad grade.
Defense attorney Leo Masursky told jurors in his closing argument Monday that Dervish was having a psychotic episode during the shooting and that the crime was not premeditated.
He said jurors should hold Dervish accountable, but urged them to consider a lesser charge of second-degree murder, which could mean confinement in a psychiatric hospital rather than a jail cell.
“Murad Dervish lost his mind on October 5, 2022,” Masursky said. “He had serious mental health issues. He didn’t know right from wrong.”
But Pima County Prosecutor Mark Hotchkiss said evidence shows Dervish planned Meixner’s murder and purchased it – a 9mm pistol – a month before using it in the shooting.
“He is not guilty, but crazy. He’s just guilty,” Hotchkiss said of Dervish.
According to a criminal complaint, a flyer with a photograph of Dervish was distributed to university employees in February 2022 with instructions to call 911 if Dervish entered the John W. Harshbarger Building, where Meixner worked.
The complaint also said Dervish was barred from school property and was the subject of multiple reports of harassment and threats to employees working at Harshbarger.
Witnesses testified that Dervish was wearing a surgical mask and a baseball cap as a disguise when he appeared outside Meixner’s office and shot the professor.
Dervish fled the scene but was arrested three hours later after Arizona state troopers stopped his car on a highway more than 120 miles northwest of Tucson.
Authorities said a loaded gun was found in the vehicle and that the ammunition was consistent with shell casings found at the scene of the shooting.
