Haq Trial

Here you can find information on the second trial of Naveed Haq, who was recently found guilty for the shooting at our Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle’s downtown offices on July 28, 2006. Our Campaign Director Pamela Waechter z”l was killed and five other women were injured. The first trial ended in a mistrial in 2008.

This page features trial-related news: our statements, key dates and developments in the trial and some related newspaper articles.

Key Dates

  • October 21, 2009: Opening remarks. Testimony by Cheryl Stumbo and Carol Goldman.
  • October 22, 2009: Testimony by Carol Goldman, Layla Bush, Molly Bennett and Christina Rexroad.
  • October 26, 2009: Ilana Kennedy testified. Police officers Mooney and Collins were followed by Sgt Coomes.
  • November 3, 2009: Testimony by Dayna Klein.
  • November 4, 2009: Haq's jailhouse calls are played.
  • November 5, 2009: Prosecution rests. Defense team begins.
  • November 12, 2009: Haq's mother and father testified.
  • November 16, 2009: Dr. Bennett and Dr. Julian testified today.
  • November 24, 2009: Dr. Missett expected to testify through today.
  • November 25-27, 2009: Court in recess.
  • November 30-December 1, 2009: Cross-examination of Dr. Missett.
  • December 2, 2009: Hasan Haq, Naveed's brother, testified. The prosecutions rebuttal witnesses included Dr. Reuss, Brian Jones and Ms. Lusch.
  • December 3, 2009: Dr. Wheeler, the State's last rebuttal witness, testified today.
  • December 10, 2009: Closing arguments by the State and the Defense were heard today. The jury is now in deliberations.
  • December 15, 2009: Jury finds Naveed Haq guilty on all counts.
  • January 14, 2010: Sentencing hearing. Nikki Waechter, Rabbi Jim Mirel, Cantor David Serkin Poole, Cheryl Stumbo, Carol Goldman, Tammy Kaiser and Richard Fruchter spoke at the hearing for the prosecution. The defense attorneys, Naveed Haq and his father spoke in his defense.
  • January 14, 2010: Haq receives life in prison without possibility of parole.

Press Releases & STatements

  • January 15, 2010: Haq Receives Life Sentence
    The sentencing hearing was emotional as victims and the defense made statements to the court. During the moving and personal remembrances of Pam, her love of life came shining through. “Just do the right thing” was a phrase both Pam’s daughter Nicki Waechter and Cantor David Serkin Poole recounted as a message often repeated by Pam.

Others had strong messages for Haq. “I choose to help the world, not hurt it. I choose to be useful…not used,” expressed Cheryl Stumbo strongly. Richard Fruchter, speaking on behalf of our Jewish community, eloquently recounted, “You could not extinguish [the victim’s] light, nor the light of the Jewish people—a light unto the nations.”

 

  • December 15, 2009: Jewish Federation Responds to Guilty Verdict in Haq Case
    “This guilty verdict will provide closure for many in the Seattle Jewish community. However, even with this strong message that violence and hate crimes will not be tolerated, we are painfully aware that we cannot bring back Pam, nor erase all the scars and lifelong changes suffered by Carol, Christina, Layla, Cheryl and Dayna,” said Richard Fruchter, President & CEO of the Jewish Federation.

    "By its very definition, a hate crime creates fear within an entire group of people. This one act did forever change the feeling of safety in our local Jewish community and for Jewish communal professionals everywhere.”

  • December 15, 2009: Remarks by King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg
    "The was our state's worst hate crime--the premeditated murder and attempted murder of victims selected merely because of what they represented, the nation of Israel and members of the Jewish faith everywhere....The jury spoke loudly today, and for all of us: We reject hate crimes and their extermist perpetrators; holding extremist views does not make you insance, but it does make you dangerous..."

Relevant News Articles

Well Wishes

  • "On behalf of the staff and board of The Jewish Federations of North America, I offer our support to your community during this sensitive period. Our hope is that justice will prevail and that the Seattle Jewish community will be given some closure." Jerry Silverman, President & CEO, Jewish Federations of North America (formerly UJC)

  • "I have seen much coverage of the trial that is scheduled to begin tomorrow lately and I wanted to write and express my gratitude for the presence that you are in the community and for the strength and perseverance that it has shown. I imagine it has been a very difficult time for your staff." Sarai Smith, Peterson Sullivan LLP

  • "We continue to mourn the violent assault of the people in the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building that occurred on July 28th, 2006. We trust that the departed victims the living victims, their friends, families, supporters and all who were and continue to be affected by the murderous rampage find comfort from the recently announced guilty verdict against the person responsible for it. The JOCRC finds that this attack on one specific Jewish organization, a brutal hate crime was—by the perpetrator’s own admission—an attack meant for any and all Jews. In a land where one group can be targeted for assault with impunity, no one is safe. Fortunately, we live in a society that denounces such attacks and treats them as the special danger to society that they represent. As members of a community that has faced other kinds of adversity, the JOCRC of New Orleans salutes the ongoing resolve of the Greater Seattle Jewish Federation to make a positive impact on Greater Seattle in spite of this deadly incident." - Jewish Outreach and Community Relations Committee, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans

 

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