Man Found Guilty Of 2 Counts Of Murder In Hookah Bar Killings

STERLING, VA — A Loudoun County Circuit Court jury found Hassan M. Gailani of Alexandria guilty Thursday of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal 2018 shooting of two men in a Sterling hookah bar, according to the commonwealth's attorney's office. At a sentencing hearing Friday, the jury recommended a prison sentence of 77 years for Gailani, whose formal sentencing will take place March 13.

Early in the morning on May 14, 2018, Gailani, 36, entered Pharaoh’s Café in the 46000 block of Old Ox Road and fired several shots at the 35-year-old Ashmed S. Osman. Murtada A. Marof, a 4o-year-oldl bystander inside the restaurant, was also shot and killed.

In its verdict, the jury also found Gailani guilty of seven counts of shooting within an occupied dwelling and two counts of use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Both Osman and Marof died at the scene, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Testimony presented during the court proceedings showed that Gailani used a Kel-Tec 9mm handgun he had purchased several weeks prior to the shooting and had taken a firearms safety course, according to the commonwealth's attorney.

At the trial, Gailani said he believed he had been drugged and sexually assaulted by Osman and another friend and had wanted to beat them up, according to a LoudounNow report. Gailani said it was not his intention to kill Osman that night.

Circuit Court Judge Stephen Sincavage instructed jury members to consider whether Gailani was insane at the time of the offense. If the jury had found Gailani insane, it would have been required to deliver a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, LoudounNow reported.

The jury concluded Gailani was not insane at the time of the killings and found him guilty after about seven hours of deliberation.