The Murder of Imran Ashgar
I watched an episode of See No Evil on ID for this case. It’s season 6, episode 11 titled ‘Can I Help you?’ See No Evil is definitely one of my favorite shows on ID, but this case was especially heartbreaking because the murder is visibly shown on the episode. By visibly I mean you see the gun being waived in his face and watching him fall over, so just a warning if you watch the episode.
Background
Imran Ashgar was 34 years old, and was married to a woman named Kristine. He worked at a convenience store on East Livingston Street in Columbus, Ohio. His goal in life was to own his own store someday, and quit at the store he was working at because it was in a pretty unsafe area. He was murdered on July 24, 2013.
Imran Ashgar
Murder
On that night, Imran and Howard were working. Imran was working behind the counter and Howard was stocking the refrigerators.
It would eventually be shown on surveillance that two young African-American men entered the store around 11pm. Imran was shot twice. The police found him shortly after 11pm, after the 911 call came in from Howard. Howard was able to escape after the men entered the store. He then came back and found Imran.
Imran was found shot, his eye was swollen and he had blood on his arms. The cash was still found in the register and the store’s gun was found in the same place. The police ruled out robbery, and believed it was either someone Imran knew or it was an attempted robbery gone bad.
Investigation
The police were able to look at the surveillance cameras. There were cameras inside and outside the store, with one pointing right at the cash register and one right over it.
A young male is seen walking in, he’s wearing a bright orange shirt. The police are able to see him raise a gun and shoot Imran without hesitation. A few seconds after, another male is seen walking in, and the two are seen talking to each other. The police guess they are working together. The second male is also carrying a semi-automatic gun. He tells the male in the orange shirt something, almost like he’s in charge. It’s determined that he told him to shoot Imran again, and he’s seen shooting him. A third male is seen, he’s wearing a hat, and walks with his head down. It appears that he checks to see if Imran is dead or not. The police also see that the male in the orange shirt appears that he’s reaching over the counter or something. They change cameras, and they determine he makes a lazy attempt to try to get the money from the register and gives up. They leave the store.
Darrell Durham is in the hat, Simmonds is in the orange and Brunner is in the white
One of the detectives said on the episode that the surveillance is the clearest footage they’ve ever seen. They asked around the police station to see if anyone can identify the suspects. The police identify the male in the orange shirt as 17 year old Devonere Simmonds.
The police went to Devonere’s last known address, and he is not there.
The police soon get a tip about the other man in the footage. He’s identified as 18 year old Nathaniel Brunner. His ex-girlfriend is the one who called the tip in, and said they took her car.
Another Shooting
Three days after Imran’s murder, on July 27, 2013, the Madison County, Ohio police get a call that there was an attempted murder at truck stop.
William Joe Rudd was shot in the head. His head and jaw were disfigured, but he was able to speak and tell them about what happened.
He said he pulled into the store to get gas, when he was confronted by two skinny African-American males. He said they looked really young. He said he believed the gun was a pistol, and they had stolen his car, a gray Dodge Magnum.
Joe Rudd, as he went by, was rushed to the hospital and survived.
A detective from the Columbus police went to the truck stop to work with the Madison County police, to determine if their suspects from Imran’s murder were the same.
They watched the surveillance from around 2am when the shooting happened. They see two males enter, matching the description from both shootings. This footage is a lot grainier than at the first store. It looked like the suspects were very calm, and just walking around the store.
They eventually were able to determine, it was their same suspects. They matched the two surveillance tapes, and everything matched. They put a BOLO (be on the lookout) for Joe Rudd’s gray Dodge Magnum, which they had stolen.
Tracking down the suspects
Within hours of the last shooting, the police find Joe’s car in Dayton, Ohio. The police didn’t know if the suspects were going to be armed and ready for a shootout, so they surrounded the car in slow manor.
Simmonds and Brunner were found asleep in the car. Brunner had the gun just laying in his lap, and they both seemed unfazed that they were being arrested.
Interrogation
Nathaniel Brunner was the first to be interviewed. The detective said he was calm and relaxed. When he was asked what happened and confronted with the murder being on tape, he said the video would explain what happened and that he wasn’t going to talk.
Devonere Simmonds was brought in next. He also said the video would speak of what happened. He was also asked what his motive was, and he said he just wanted money.
The third suspect is finally identified as Darrell Durham. He appeared nervous. He said he wanted to tell them what happened, and said he was only the lookout and was outside when the shooting happened. He said Devonere was the shooter, and he only went inside to check in Imran was dead, which was confirmed by the surveillance.
Arrest and Convictions
Darrell Durham pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated murder. He also agreed to testify against Simmonds and Brunner at trial.
Nathaniel Brunner was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 78 years in prison.
Nathaniel Brunner
Devonere was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years.
Devonere Simmonds, the shooter
Other
There was also a fourth accomplice in this case, which was never discussed in the episode. His name was Lamont Frazier, and it’s reported that Devonere Simmonds also shot him, but there was not enough evidence to convict him of that murder.
Joe Rudd was interviewed in the last part of this episode, and he said he thinks he was meant to survive to be able to put these people away. He was also very brave, and said he forgives them for what happened, especially because the bullet is still in his neck and removing it could kill him.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This case is so sad. I was definitely more shocked by this case just because it was so visibly shown. In a lot of the other episodes, the surveillance is very hard to see. There were also a lot of hard photos to see as well when the other victim Joe Rudd was found. I’m so happy he survived and was able to tell police exactly what happened to him.
I hope that Imran’s family can lay him to rest, and grieve now that they know his killer’s are rotting in prison for life.
Sources
https://sanctuaryofmary.blogspot.com/2013/07/imran-ashgar-store-clerk-murdered-in.html
