A man already in jail on unrelated charges has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree felony murder in the Dec. 9 stabbing death of 46-year-old Alaa Alkhatawi at a Millcreek home.
The murder count was added to Salt Lake County jail booking information for 25-year-old Karrar Tahier Suhail on Dec. 15, Unified Police confirmed on Wednesday.
Suhail, who remained behind bars without bail, had earlier been booked on suspicion of third-degree felony possession of a concealed firearm and misdemeanor drug and drug paraphernalia possession counts.
Unified Police officers, conducting a welfare check, found Alkhatawai's body earlier this month inside a residence at 3365 S. 900 East.
At the time of his death, Alkhatawi was on probation for a January guilty plea to filing a false insurance claim on a car he claimed had been stolen, as well as 2015 guilty pleas for misdemeanor drug charges.
Suhail, an acquaintance of the victim, has a criminal record including a 2012 felony aggravated assault involving a male juvenile, a 2014 felony riot conviction, and a guilty plea in March 2015 as part of a plea deal where felony counts were lowered to misdemeanor attempted forgery and theft by deception charges.
remims@slrtrib.com
Twitter: @remims
| Courtesy Salt Lake County jail Karrar Tahier Suhail
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible