WARRENSBURG, Mo. — A man charged in a murder for hire case will soon bond out of jail and some worry once he does that, he’ll run from the law. Defendant Zayid Abid’s attorneys say he may bond out of jail Friday or Monday, despite the fact that he is from Saudi Arabia and the judge expressed concerns that Abid will flee the country. However, Abid’s attorneys say he isn’t going to run away because he wants to prove that he had nothing to do with killing popular Warrensburg bar owner Blaine Whitworth.
Johnson County, Mo., Judge Mike Wagner said in court Friday that he had serious concerns about letting Abid bond out of jail, but legally, he didn’t have a choice. The problem is that since his arrest, Abid hasn’t been going to school, causing his student visa to expired, so he’s here illegally. If he’s released from jail, the prosecutor has argued that immigration officials could arrest Abid, and deport him. However, state law doesn’t allow the judge to hold someone without bond unless it’s a death penalty case, so the judge said legally his hands are tied.
Fox 4 spoke to Abid’s father and attorneys as they left the courthouse. They didn’t want to speak on camera, but they said their plan is to post the two million dollars bond Friday or Monday at the latest. The news shocked those who knew the victim.
“Especially murder, I don’t understand how you can let someone go,” said Whitworth’s friend Tyler Werle.
Werle says he also knows the defendants Abid and Reginald Singletary since they were hanging around Whitworth’s bar all last summer. Police say Singletary confessed that he killed Whitworth outside his Warrensburg home, but Singletary told police Abid paid him to do it. Werle suspects Abid will flee the country if he’s let out of jail.
“I don’t believe he’ll stay here more than a couple days if he bonds out,” said Werle, “the fact he was around us so much and did what he did, you can’t trust someone like that.”
The judge ordered that Abid’s bond be posted in a special account with the court so if Abid leaves the country, the money will not disappear too. Abid’s father confirmed the money is coming from the Saudi Arabia government, but also told Fox 4 that his son will not flee the country. He says his son is innocent and he trusts the courts to allow his son to prove that he had nothing to do with Whitworth’s murder.
Abid is scheduled to appear before the judge again on April 29.