PORTLAND, Maine — A 25-year-old man was found guilty Monday by a Cumberland County jury of murder in the death of a Portland man, who was killed in November 2014 in an apartment on Brighton Avenue, according to the Maine attorney general’s office.
Abdirahman Huessin Haji-Hassan, also of Portland, shot Richard Lobor, 23, in the leg and then in the head. Lobor may have been acting as a “peacekeeper” during a dispute that night, according to a police affidavit.
The jury of six women and six men deliberated for 2½ hours Monday before announcing its verdict, according to Maine attorney general’s office spokesman Timothy Feeley.
“The exceptional work of the detectives, officers, evidence technicians, and victim advocate of the Portland Police Department made this prosecution a success,” Assistant Attorney General Meg Elam said Tuesday in an email. “I am grateful to the jury for their careful attention to the evidence, which resulted in justice for Richard Lobor and his family.”
Elam said DNA, fingerprint and ballistics evidence that corroborated eyewitness testimony was presented during the five-day trial that began Dec. 6 after one day of jury selection.
The trial was postponed in May when a jury could not be seated in the case. The reasons for that have not been made public.
Efforts to reach defense attorneys in the case were unsuccessful Tuesday morning.
Lobor was shot after he stepped between Haji-Hassan and a man police identified as Mohamed Ashkir. The argument took place at an apartment rented to Michael Deblois, according to Portland police.
Deblois, who told police he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is a crack cocaine user, allowed Lobor, Haji-Hassan and others to use the apartment in exchange for food, drinks and drugs, according to the court affidavit.
When he had visitors, they told him to stay in his bedroom, Deblois said.
About 9 p.m. Nov. 21, 2014, Deblois told police that Lobor, Haji-Hassan, Ashkir and a man still known only as “New York” were in the apartment when Haji-Hassan pulled out a handgun and demanded Ashkir leave. Deblois, who told police he only knew the men by nicknames, said he retreated to his kitchen and grabbed a knife for self-defense after Lobor was shot in the leg.
He also said Haji-Hassan first fired one shot into the floor, though police found no evidence this occurred.
According to the affidavit, Haji-Hassan, who went by the nickname “Jordan,” was drinking rum and cola before the shooting. Police used fingerprints taken from the bottle, cans and cup, and a lineup photo, to identify Haji-Hassan, then made another identification based on a Facebook page.
The affidavit said police also were aided by Lobor’s family, who provided information that Haji-Hassan went by another nickname as well — “Lil Man” — and had gone into hiding in New York after the shooting.
The affidavit did not explain what led police to Minneapolis, where Haji-Hassan was arrested on Dec. 19, 2014.
He pleaded not guilty the following month after being brought back to Maine.
Haji-Hassan has been held without bail since then.
He faces between 25 years and life in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Elam declined Tuesday to comment on what sentence she might recommend.