Negasi Zuberi Found Guilty on All Counts

MEDFORD, Ore. — Oregon resident Negasi Zuberi was found guilty on all counts related to the kidnap and r*pe of two women on the eighth day of his trial before U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane in Medford yesterday.

He will remain in custody until his sentencing on January 16, 2025.

He Left a Dump Truck of Evidence Behind

The court heard that Zuberi left ‘a dump truck of evidence behind’ when he fled his home in Klamath Falls with his wife, Alycia Westfall, and two small children.

A search of his iCloud account revealed that Zuberi had searched for information about flights from Reno – where he was finally arrested – to New York and to Turkey.

‘He left a dump truck of evidence behind him,’ said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan J. Lichvarcik.

After closing argument, it took the jury less than four hours to return a verdict of guilty on all counts, including the kidnapping and r*pe of two young women in 2023 who he held captive in a cinder block cell in the garage of his Klamath Falls home, where he repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted them.

In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Sweet told jurors that Zuberi had ‘violated their bodies…violated their freedom…and violated the law.’

After the verdicts were announced, Judge McShane lifted an earlier prohibition that prevented Zuberi from calling and speaking with his wife and the mother of his two sons.

Still to Face Charge of Attempted Escape

Zuberi must still face a charge of attempted escape from the Jackson County Jail on August 22. He is accused of using an improvised device that he used to shatter the glass in his cell and then trying to conceal it with paper and books.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the device was later found attached to his sandal.

No witnesses were called by Zuberi’s defense team. Instead, they played a video taken with a cell phone that Zuberi made of one of his victims. The video shows the back interior of Zuberi’s Honda Pilot SUV on Mat 6, 2023. The defense team described the video as proof that the sex with the Klamath Falls woman was consensual.

Earlier in the week the woman had testified that Zuberi made an ‘insurance’ video that he threatened to show her family and friends if she betrayed him to the police. She said she was instructed to lie on top of Zuberi and to look like she was having a good time.

On Thursday, Zuberi chose not to take the stand in his defense but after closing arguments yesterday, he changed his mind.

Judge McShane denied Zuberi’s request, saying he had changed his mind too late.

‘In fact, I think it is a ploy to disrupt the case in some appellate manner.’

Zuberi (30) was found guilty of one count of kidnapping and transportation for sexual criminal activity on July 14, 2023, of a Seattle sex worker.

He was found guilty of kidnapping the Klamath Falls woman in May 2023.

He was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of possession of ammunition.