Yusef Rahman

Case record: Yusef Rahman

Background

Yusef Abdullah Rahman, described as a paranoid schizophrenic who claimed to hear orders over a military radio, was charged in Long Island sniper shootings. The shootings terrorized eastern Long Island.

People who knew Yusef Abdullah Rahman described him as a quiet, playful man and as devoutly religious. Some acquaintances along Old Quogue Road said he was nonviolent, did not smoke, did not drink, and did not do “nothing like that.” Residents in Riverhead and Southampton said they were relieved that police had a suspect in the shootings.

In Kansas City, Missouri, he was known to police as Joseph Davis and was described as a devious, methodical killer. A Kansas City police sergeant said there was some indication that Rahman “wanted to kill all the drug dealers in Kansas City.” Sgt. Pete Edlund of the Kansas City Police Department said a warrant was issued for Rahman’s arrest for the fatal execution-style shooting of a youth in August 1987. The same spokesman said he faced auto theft charges in the Kansas City area and was wanted for questioning in four other fatal shootings in the Kansas City area between July 28, 1987, and July 31, 1987.

Suffolk County police said Rahman told them that he had made three telephone calls in which he said the shootings were part of a vendetta against “drug dealers and crooked cops,” and that he had been trying to mislead the authorities. Suffolk police said there was no evidence that the shootings were drug related.

Rahman lived with Barbara and Jerry Nelson in Riverhead, and Mrs. Nelson said Rahman lived with them rent-free as a favor to a friend of her husband. Mrs. Nelson denied that Rahman was her husband’s uncle. A witness described Rahman storing weapons in his grandfather’s garage. Rahman worked as a potato packer for a couple of months for the I.M. Young Company in Cutchogue.

The offence

Rahman was accused in a series of sniper attacks on eastern Long Island that left one man dead and three people wounded, with fear created among residents of two towns. In four of the five attacks, the sniper randomly chose his victims, and in three instances fired at their heads after peeking into a window in their houses after dark. The fifth attack involved a Southampton Town police officer, who was fired upon as he answered a traffic call that turned out to be fake.

The first attack occurred on Dec. 5, 1988, when Bernard Timothy Heaney was shot to death at his automobile-body shop in Flanders, Southampton. Police said Heaney was going to the aid of his dog, which had also been shot.

On Dec. 6, 1988, Richard Jensen was wounded by a shotgun fired through his window as he sat watching television in his home on Lincoln Street in Riverhead. The blast tore away the middle finger on both of Jensen’s hands, which were clasped behind his head.

On Dec. 7, 1988, Theodore Squires, a sign painter, was shot through the window of his house on nearby Ostrander Avenue in Riverhead shortly after he answered a knock on the door and found no one there. Police said Squires was wounded in the shoulder. The police said the weapon was the same shotgun fired at Jensen.

On Dec. 8, 1988, Donald Crump, an acquaintance of Rahman, was shot in the chin with a .22-caliber bullet as he sat in his home in the Flanders section of Southampton Town.

In addition, Rahman was charged with shooting at a Southampton Police officer on Jan. 1, 1989.

Rahman made statements to Suffolk police, including a signed statement describing the third shooting on Dec. 7. In that statement, he said, “I don’t know why I shot this man,” and also said, “I just wanted to shoot someone.” In written and videotaped statements to Suffolk police, Rahman fashioned himself as a commando on wheels, wearing a bulletproof vest and military-like clothing, and touting his weapons—a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and a cut-down .22-caliber rifle—while bicycling around neighborhoods in Riverhead and Southampton Township looking for someone to shoot. In his statement, Rahman said he had practiced mock-combat maneuvers since he was 6 years old, and bought his gun, a .357 Magnum revolver, when he was 14.

Investigation

Police said the case began to unfold on Jan. 22 after a resident of Old Quogue Road in Southampton told state police that he found a cut-down .22-caliber rifle and a sawed-off shotgun in a car he was storing. The weapons were given to the task force. Within a day, Suffolk County crime laboratory confirmed that the rifle was identical to the one used to kill Heaney and wound Crump.

Police traced the weapons to Rahman and began a search that ended Saturday at 4 P.M. in Wyandanch.

A police release issued said, “It is clear that Yusef Rahman fancied himself a commando or a member of a SWAT team in these events.”

Rahman’s interest in the military was described by investigators. Edward Jablonski, chief of the homicide bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, said He had a strong interest in the military and wanted to join the Army. Detective Sgt. George Horvath of the Suffolk police homicide squad, who headed a task force assigned to find the sniper, said, “He had a fantasy about being a soldier.”

Arrest

Rahman was arrested Saturday in Wyandanch. He was ordered held without bail in the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead.

He was identified as Yusef Abdullah Rahman of 60 Fanning Street in Riverhead. During his arraignment in Riverhead Town Justice Court, he was not represented by a lawyer in court and did not enter a plea, while town justice Gregory R. Manning read the charges. During arraignment, he said in a barely audible voice, “I’m sorry.”

Rahman’s arrest followed several weapons being found in a car in Southampton six days earlier and weapons linked to him and the sniper attacks.

Police said Rahman was also known as Joseph Davis and as Yussuf Amin.

Trial

Rahman was tried in Suffolk County Court. The prosecution opened arguments that Rahman knew what he was doing when he shot four men in the winter of 1988. Assistant District Attorney Randall Hinrichs said that a videotaped statement Rahman gave police showed he knew what he was doing, knew the consequences of his actions, and knew it was wrong. Hinrichs also advised the jurors that they would be “reaching a verdict in this case. You don’t come back with a diagnosis.”

Rahman’s defense attorney Eric Naiburg argued that expert testimony would show Rahman was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and therefore should be found not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect. Naiburg said that as a 20-year-old Rahman played with toy soldiers and was obsessed with military things, and said Rahman believed that the shootings were military operations.

Before trial, a judge ruled Rahman was mentally competent to stand trial. Two court-appointed psychiatrists had said Rahman was a paranoid schizophrenic who claimed to hear orders over a military radio and was not competent to stand trial. The prosecutor and a defense lawyer asked Judge Harvey Sherman of Suffolk County Court to allow further evaluation. After hearing from more doctors, Judge Sherman ruled that Rahman was mentally competent to stand trial. An assistant district attorney Timothy Mazzei wanted Rahman tried so he could be found guilty. The defense lawyer Eric Naiburg wanted Rahman tried so he could be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Rahman would likely be hospitalized and then released when he recovered. If ruled incompetent, he could have been put in a mental hospital indefinitely.

In a separate competency hearing, two psychiatrists testified before Suffolk County Court Judge Harvey Sherman. They said Rahman quickly convinced them he was competent after he overcame his initial reluctance to be quizzed by making a phone call to his lawyer. They also said two court-appointed doctors did not understand the law nor the narrow legal area—competency to understand the charges and assist in a defense—that they had been asked to consider. The doctors who testified had been retained by the prosecution.

The prosecution’s doctors Seymour Block and Allen Reichman said Rahman’s account of voices over a military radio ordering him and some unidentified others to kill and shoot people might be of great help to Rahman’s court-appointed lawyer, Eric Naiburg, in putting together an insanity defense for trial.

Sentencing

Rahman was sentenced to life in prison in 1990. Later information in the case record states “42 years to life on one concurrent life term on second count” in 1992.

Appeals

No appeal information was included in the supplied material.

Outcome

Rahman received life in prison in 1990.

Timeline

• Dec. 5, 1988 — Bernard Timothy Heaney was shot to death outside his auto-body shop in Flanders, Southampton.
• Dec. 6, 1988 — Richard Jensen was shot in the head by firing through the window of Jensen’s house.
• Dec. 7, 1988 — Theodore Squires was shot in the right shoulder after he answered a knock on his door.
• Dec. 8, 1988 — Donald Crump was shot in the chin as he sat in his living room.
• Jan. 1, 1989 — Rahman was charged with shooting at a Southampton Police officer.
• Jan. 22 — A resident of Old Quogue Road in Southampton found a cut-down .22-caliber rifle and a sawed-off shotgun in a car he was storing; the weapons were given to the task force.
• Jan. 30, 1989 — Rahman was charged following arrest in five sniper attacks; he was ordered held without bail in the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead.
• May 16, 1989 — Two psychiatrists testified that Rahman was competent to stand trial.
• May 25, 1989 — Judge Harvey Sherman ruled that Rahman was mentally competent to stand trial.
• Sep. 26, 1990 — Prosecution and defense arguments addressed whether Rahman knew what he was doing and whether paranoid schizophrenia supported a not-responsible-by-reason-of-mental-disease-or-defect verdict.
• 1990 — Rahman was sentenced to life in prison.
• 1992 — The case record indicates “42 years to life on one concurrent life term on second count.”

Other details

Rahman’s address and identifiers included “Yusef Abdullah Rahman,” “Yussuf Amin,” and “Joseph Davis.”

In statements described by police, Rahman said he carried weapons and wore military-like clothing and a bulletproof vest, and rode a bicycle to the attacks. He carried a sawed-off shotgun and a cut-down .22-caliber rifle, and also carried a knife strapped to his leg.

Heaney’s dog had also been shot.

On Dec. 6, in addition to the injury described to Jensen’s hands, police described the blast as tearing away the middle finger on both of Jensen’s hands, which were clasped behind his head.

On Dec. 7, police said Squires answered a knock and found no one there before being shot through his window.

On Dec. 8, the victim identified was Donald Crump.

During his arraignment in Riverhead Town Justice Court, Rahman “rocked slowly from side to side with his head down” as town justice Gregory R. Manning read the charges. He wore acid-dyed jeans, a blue-and-white sweater and black shoes.

Chief Lawrence Grattan of the Riverhead Town Police said, “It’s an enormous relief.”

A principal of the Phillips Avenue School in Riverhead, Audrey Stupke, said, “We’re all breathing a sigh of relief.”

A victim Richard Jensen said, “One of the hardest things was going through the accusations and knowing I wasn’t a part of them,” and also said, “Then again, I just feel lucky I’m alive.”

During opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney Randall Hinrichs said, “To do what he did, this defendant obviously had problems,” and also said, “reaching a verdict in this case.

Rahman’s videotaped statement to Suffolk police included that he fired at a Southampton police car to revive attention that four earlier shootings drew; police said a bullet struck the post on the left side of the windshield, narrowly missing a police officer answering a false report of a traffic accident made by Rahman.

The record included the trial charge descriptions: murder of Bernard Timothy Heaney on Dec. 5, 1988; shooting Richard Jensen in the head on Dec. 6, 1988; shooting Theodore Squires in the right shoulder after he answered a knock on Dec. 7, 1988; shooting Donald Crump in the chin on Dec. 8, 1988; and shooting at a Southampton Police officer on Jan. 1, 1989.

During early proceedings, Rahman was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and first-degree reckless endangerment, and justices ordered him held without bail; in Riverhead Town Justice Court, the police said he was charged with two counts of second-degree attempted murder.