Where is Muhammed Altantawi now? ‘Dateline NBC’ tells story of tragic mom murdered for 'behaviour'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A chilling and tragic case unfolds in the story of Muhammad Altantawi on 'Dateline NBC' as he recounts haunting details about why he is accused of committing an honor killing by murdering his mother, Nada Huranieh. A divorced woman, Huranieh, who led a very independent lifestyle since her divorce, was found dead in circumstances that are not only suspicious but also raise many questions.
In this installment of the ongoing trial, 'Dateline NBC' digs into all the complexity surrounding this fatal case, where a son killed his own mother in a case of honor killing. Muhammed, the son behind the crime now faces prison for 35 to 60 years for the brutal nature of his crime.
Who is Muhammed Altantawi?
Muhammed Altantawi is a Michigan man who shot his way into the national spotlight, having been convicted this past year for killing his mother, Nada Huranieh, in 2017, when he was just 16 years old. He comes from a family marred by deep divisions, one that would be especially backed by his parents's divorce. Muhammed took his father's side and sided with the strict way of Islam that his mother fostered, at least in her fitness training work and her filing for divorce from his father.
The prosecution in the trial complained that Muhammed hated his mother, believing she was not a "good Muslim," meaning she had shamed their family. And so tensions at home were coming to a head with this tragic event: he suffocated his mother and then tried to make her death appear as an accident, having pushed her out of a second-story window.
Aya Altantawi, the sister, testified against him in court. She described the increasing tension that was building up between their mother and brother during the years that preceded the murder.
Why did Muhammed Altantawi find mother Nada Huranieh problematic?
Muhammed Altantawi grew up perceiving his mother, Nada Huranieh, as having a problematic lifestyle and pattern of decision-making that did not look at the world through the narrow lens of strict Islamic beliefs. Given that he was largely raised by his father, the perspective his father had toward Islam and their marriage, which ended in a contentious divorce, caused him to fit into a more conservative understanding of his religion. His mother, on the other hand, led an independent modernist life as a fitness trainer, dressing like that for fitness, wearing such as leggings and T-shirts- something unacceptable and provocative to him.
Muhammed saw Nada as not a "good Muslim" by his definition. He likely saw her independence and her decision to get divorced from his father as a revolt against the old values of families. This led to severe conflict between them because he thought that she had disgraced his family; he often belittled her, and he even programmed her telephone number under an insulting name.
Time passed, and the tension increased because Muhammed had come to consider himself as "man of the house" after his father's departure, thus further fermenting the conflict between him and his mother. These beliefs and growing resentment made Muhammed view his mother as a problem in the long run which eventually led to the tragic events that resulted in her death.
How did Muhammed Altantawi kill mother Nada Huranieh?
Muhammed Altantawi killed his mother, Nada Huranieh in August 2017 by asphyxia, suffocating her and then attempted to portray the scenario as an accident. From testimonies presented before the court, and by the prosecution case, it is evident that Muhammed asphyxiated his mother, a form of suicide through the application of force on the neck or body such that the victim can't have air. He moved the body to the patio, outside the window of their second-floor house and posed her as if she had fallen back while cleaning the windows.
The autopsy clearly showed that her death came from asphyxia, with signs of smothering, directly opposing Muhammed's statement that she had fallen from the window. All these elements added to his strained relationship with his mother over her modern way of life and the belief that she was not living according to his strict interpretation of the principles of Islam were enough to convict him of murder. The case was widely reported in the press because of the deep family conflicts and the fact that it raised the whole issue of "honor killing”.
Aya Altantawi says she has ‘forgiven’ brother Muhammed Altantawi
Aya testified in her brother Muhammed Altantawi's trial that she had forgiven her brother for the tragic circumstances under which their mother died. She was candid about the deep familial conflict they had endured growing up-such as the strained relationship between the brothers's parents, the strict beliefs held by their father, and the dramatically different paths that the brothers took when the parents divorced.
Aya finally expressed that even though she had carried resentment toward her brother, especially after finding him hostile to their mother, she forgave him because both suffered at the hands of the same person.
