In a devastating admission that has left the University of South Florida community reeling with fury and heartbreak, the brother of accused double murderer Hisham Abugharbieh has come forward with a bombshell revelation: “We tried to warn police in the past.”

The family had desperately filed protective orders against the 26-year-old, begging authorities to intervene over his increasingly erratic and violent behaviour – warnings that tragically went unheeded before he allegedly carried out one of the most horrific premeditated killings in Tampa’s recent history.

Zamil Limon, 27, a brilliant Bangladeshi doctoral student in Geography and Environmental Science, and his 27-year-old girlfriend Nahida Bristy, a promising Chemical Engineering PhD candidate, vanished on April 16, 2026. Their roommate Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh now stands charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon. Prosecutors say he didn’t just kill them – he planned it, researched body disposal on ChatGPT, bought supplies, and then butchered the trusting young couple before trying to erase every trace of his monstrous crime.

But according to Hisham’s own brother Ahmad Abugharbieh, the horror should never have happened. The family had seen the warning signs for years.

“We tried to warn police in the past,” Ahmad told reporters, his voice heavy with shame and guilt. The Abugharbieh family had filed two protective orders against Hisham – one in 2023 that was granted, and another in 2025 that was denied, according to court records. Those orders stemmed from disturbing episodes of erratic behaviour, including screaming at night claiming he was God, explosive anger, and alleged domestic violence incidents involving his own relatives.

One protective order described Hisham attacking family members when asked to leave the home. Another relative had filed complaints detailing violent outbursts. Yet somehow, the system failed – and two innocent international students paid with their lives.

The betrayal runs even deeper. Zamil Limon himself had reportedly complained about his roommate’s “unsocial, unpleasant, and sort of psychopathic behaviour” just weeks before the murders. Around 15 days prior to the disappearance, Limon and another roommate filed a formal grievance with apartment management at Avalon Heights, the off-campus complex where they lived. They had learned of Hisham’s prior criminal record and grew increasingly uncomfortable with his reclusive, hostile presence.

Those complaints, like the family’s earlier warnings to police, appear to have been ignored or downplayed.

Hisham’s alleged descent into violence was anything but sudden. Court documents reveal a chilling trail of premeditation in the days leading up to April 16. He allegedly ordered duct tape from Amazon on April 7. On April 13, just three days before the couple vanished, he turned to ChatGPT with cold-blooded questions: “What happens if a human is put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster?” When the AI flagged the query, he allegedly pushed further: “How would they find out?” He also reportedly asked about changing a vehicle’s VIN number and keeping a gun without a license.

This was a man allegedly preparing for murder while sharing an apartment with his victims.

On the night of the killings, blood was later found throughout the shared unit – in the kitchen and Hisham’s bedroom. A second roommate witnessed him wheeling cardboard boxes to the complex dumpster in the dead of night. Inside that dumpster, investigators discovered Limon’s student ID, credit cards, eyeglasses, blood-stained clothing, and a floor mat carrying Bristy’s DNA. Fresh cleaning supplies completed the picture of a ruthless cover-up operation.

Limon’s body was recovered on April 24 on the Howard Frankland Bridge, showing multiple sharp-force injuries including a devastating stab wound to the lower back that pierced his liver. Nahida Bristy remains missing, presumed dead, with authorities believing she suffered a similar fate. Human remains later found in nearby waterways are believed linked to her.

Hisham was arrested on April 24 following a dramatic SWAT standoff at his family’s home after yet another domestic violence call. He barricaded himself inside, forcing a hours-long tactical response before emerging wearing only a towel. Initial charges were quickly upgraded to two counts of premeditated murder as evidence mounted.

The victims were everything Hisham allegedly was not – ambitious, kind-hearted, full of promise. Both from Bangladesh, they had come to America chasing education and brighter futures. They were reportedly considering marriage. Limon was passionate about environmental issues; Bristy excelled in her field. Friends described them as warm, dedicated scholars who trusted their roommate enough to live alongside him.

That trust was allegedly repaid with blades and betrayal.

The double tragedy has ignited outrage across Tampa Bay and far beyond. International students at USF feel vulnerable. Families in Bangladesh are demanding justice and the death penalty. “We want the highest possible punishment,” Limon’s brother Zubaer Ahmed has said, speaking for many devastated relatives.

Questions are now swirling about missed opportunities at every level. Why weren’t the protective orders and prior complaints enough to keep Hisham away from vulnerable students? Why did apartment management allegedly fail to act on Limon’s grievance? How many other “troubled roommates” are slipping through the cracks in university housing?

This case has exposed frightening gaps in how warning signs about dangerous individuals are handled – especially when those individuals live among young people far from home. Hisham’s own family tried to sound the alarm. The victims themselves tried to sound the alarm. Yet the killings still happened.

As prosecutors push to keep Hisham held without bond, calling him an extreme danger to the community, the Abugharbieh family grapples with profound guilt. Ahmad’s public statement carries the weight of a brother who saw the storm coming but couldn’t stop it.

For the families of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, the pain is unbearable. Two bright young lives, full of potential, extinguished in a shared apartment that should have been safe. A romance that was blossoming cut short by alleged hatred and planning. Dreams of graduation, marriage, and success stolen in a night of horror.

The quiet streets around Avalon Heights and the Howard Frankland Bridge now carry a darker shadow. USF students walk campus with heavier hearts. The Bangladeshi community mourns not just two of their own, but the failure of a system that was warned yet did not protect.

Hisham Abugharbieh stands accused of premeditated evil at its worst – researching disposal methods, buying supplies, striking when the moment came, then attempting to scrub the scene clean. But the new revelations from his own brother add a layer of preventable tragedy: this monster was known. Warnings were given. Red flags waved for years.

“We tried to warn police in the past.” Those words from Ahmad Abugharbieh will echo as a damning indictment of every authority that failed to listen.

As the investigation continues and the search for full closure on Nahida Bristy presses on, one thing is crystal clear: two promising doctoral students came to Tampa chasing knowledge and opportunity. Instead, they allegedly met a killer whose danger had been flagged long before the first drop of blood was spilled.

The blood in that apartment cries out not just for justice, but for accountability. Families tried to warn. Victims tried to warn. Now the entire system must answer why those warnings were not enough to save two innocent lives.

Tampa – and America’s universities – are watching. And grieving families are demanding that never again should “we tried to warn” become the epitaph for preventable murder.