Farmington Hills Man Found Guilty in Troy Murder Trial

Hayes Bacall sat motionless in court Thursday as an Oakland County Circuit Court jury found him guilty in the

"This was not an easy decision," the jury representative said before announcing a verdict of guilty for the charges of first-degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime.

Bacall, 51, of Farmington Hills, was convicted of the July 2 shooting death of his nephew, Saif Jameel, 33, of Sylvan Lake. Bacall shot Jameel 10 times inside Jameel's BP gas station, 2989 Crooks, before exiting the business and being taken into custody by officers with the .

Ken Frazee, an assistant prosecutor for Oakland County, presented evidence at trial indicating Bacall shot Jameel over a $400,000 debt his nephew owed him.

Defense attorney Jerry Sabbota said jurors indicated they came to their decision based on Bacall's behavior after the shooting, as well as the fact there wasn't any evidence to support Bacall's claim that he shot Jameel in self defense after a struggle inside the office.

Video evidence presented at trial showed Bacall saying he shot his nephew because Jameel owed him $400,000. An in-car video taken by the Troy Police Department also showed Bacall answering his cell phone after the shooting while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. The video shows Bacall yelling several phrases in Arabic to the victim's brother.

Frazee said during closing arguments translators found Bacall said, "I killed your brother! I (expletive) your sister! I killed him!" before hanging up the phone.

More than a dozen family members attended the hearing Thursday and were present in the emotionally charged courtroom as the jury read its verdict.

"It's horrible," said Hayes Bacall's son, Maher Bacall. "What's more horrible is that (Jameel's family) wanted to watch (prosecutors) get first-degree murder."

Relatives said during the trial and that the slaying has destroyed Jameel's life and his family's, as well as Bacall's family.

Nick Hannawa, a friend of Bacall and his father, acted as interpretor Thursday while the verdict was read. "We told him not to react," Hannawa said. "He told me he wasn't happy with it and asked if we had a case for appeal. He says it was self defense."