This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man already in jail on unrelated charges has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree felony murder in the Dec. 9 stabbing death of 46-year-old Alaa Alkhatawi at a Millcreek home.
The murder count was added to Salt Lake County jail booking information for 25-year-old Karrar Tahier Suhail on Dec. 15, Unified Police confirmed on Wednesday.
Suhail, who remained behind bars without bail, had earlier been booked on suspicion of third-degree felony possession of a concealed firearm and misdemeanor drug and drug paraphernalia possession counts.
Unified Police officers, conducting a welfare check, found Alkhatawai's body earlier this month inside a residence at 3365 S. 900 East.
At the time of his death, Alkhatawi was on probation for a January guilty plea to filing a false insurance claim on a car he claimed had been stolen, as well as 2015 guilty pleas for misdemeanor drug charges.
Suhail, an acquaintance of the victim, has a criminal record including a 2012 felony aggravated assault involving a male juvenile, a 2014 felony riot conviction, and a guilty plea in March 2015 as part of a plea deal where felony counts were lowered to misdemeanor attempted forgery and theft by deception charges.
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