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| Orlando nightclub shooter's widow found not guilty of aiding husband | Orlando nightclub shooter's widow found not guilty of aiding husband |
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| The widow of the Orlando nightclub shooter who killed 49 people has been found not guilty of charges that could have seen her jailed for life. | |
| Prosecutors alleged Noor Salman had assisted her husband, Omar Mateen, in scouting potential targets for him, including including Disney World’s shopping and entertainment complex. They also alleged she knew he was buying ammunition for his AR-15 rifle ahead of his attack that left 49 people dead. | |
| But after three days of deliberation, the jury found her not guilty of federal charges of obstructing investigators and aiding Mateen in providing support to Isis. He had sworn allegiance to an Isis leader before he was shot and killed by police who stormed the nightclub where he was holding hostages. | |
| Ms Salman, 31, could have faced up to life in prison had she been convicted. Local media said she began crying once the jury returned its verdict and she learned she had been found not guilty. | |
| The Associated Press said the Ms Salman’s lawyers had argued she was an easily manipulated woman with a low IQ. They said the woman, who was born to Palestinian parents in California, had been regularly abused by her husband, who also cheated on her with other women. | |
| Indeed, the said Mateen had concealed much of his life from his wife and lawyer Charles Swift told the court there was no way she could have known he was going to attack the Pulse nightclub in June 2016 - an attack that at the time was the deadliest assault in modern US history. | |
| More follows.... |