OAKLAND COUNTY, MI – Two Michigan men who murdered an elderly jeweler inside his home in October 2024 while the duo posed as energy company employees learned their fate in court earlier in December, with the convicted murderers slated to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
On October 11th, 2024, Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of 72-year-old Hussein Murray in the basement of his home, with the initial press release noting that Murray’s body was discovered in a state so “gruesome” that authorities initially couldn’t tell whether “he had been shot or bludgeoned to death.”
While authorities didn’t know the identities of the suspects at the time of the October 2024 press release, investigators did know that the two suspects “were posing as DTE employees” and that the victim’s wife was also inside the home at the time of the murder. When deputies found the victim’s wife inside the home, she’d been “tied up and her hands were duct taped,” and she was not yet aware of the fate her husband suffered, telling deputies who happened upon her that she suspected the two men kidnapped her husband.
Authorities released Ring camera footage of the two suspects, later identified as Joshua Zuazo and Carlos Hernandez, as the two posed as DTE energy company employees and told the victim they were inspecting homes for gas leaks. In reality, the two men knew exactly where they were and who they were targeting, as text messages between Hernandez and his wife revealed how the home invasion turned murder plot was motivated by Murray’s accumulated wealth from the jewelry business.
Two days before the murderous home invasion, Hernandez’s wife had texted him in reference to the planned robbery, telling him, “I hope we get enough money to buy a house,” with Hernandez replying with, “Our own home.” After the wife of the now-convicted murderer speculated on a life with “no rent” in another reply via text, Hernandez reportedly wrote back to her with, “If what I feel is here, we gonna be good.”
When it came time to act on the plot cooked up by Zuazo and Hernandez, the two were at first shot down by Murray’s wife, Linda, when attempting to pose as DTE employees on October 10th, 2024, likely due to how late in the evening it was. However, when the two took another crack at the energy company employees hoax the following afternoon, Murray agreed to let them inspect the basement, leading to the trusting man’s untimely death.
Despite evidence showcasing Hernandez’s wife was aware of the home invasion/robbery plot, even texting her husband beforehand with, “Remember what I said, if things get sketchy, GTFO,” she was never formally charged in connection to the case.
During the two’s sentencing on December 9th, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Yasmine Poles scolded Zuazo and Hernandez, saying, “Rarely does the court see this level of depravity, this level of arrogance and greed.”
Judge Poles remarked on the “fantasy” the men had of landing a big score through the heinous murder-robbery, telling the men, “You couldn't care less about a man's life, in order for you to fulfill a fantasy of the life that you wanted. The white picket fence, the house. His life meant nothing to you.”
“The idea that there was such a loss of humanity in your actions,” Judge Poles emphasized, adding, “you go to his home the evening before, he looks at you eye-to-eye…and he's kind. Most people would not be kind at 10 o'clock in the evening. That doesn't stop you, that just alters your plan to go back the next day. And you go back the next day with the intent to deceive and invade.”
Judge Poles commented on how the two murderers thought they “came up with this brilliant plan,” and noted how their lackadaisical conversations on text about achieving a better life through their crime “led to a trail of evidence that ended up being copious amounts of evidence that led to very quick convictions with two separate juries.”
Both men were given life sentences without the possibility of parole, thus ensuring Zuazo and Hernandez will die behind bars.
On October 11th, 2024, Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of 72-year-old Hussein Murray in the basement of his home, with the initial press release noting that Murray’s body was discovered in a state so “gruesome” that authorities initially couldn’t tell whether “he had been shot or bludgeoned to death.”
While authorities didn’t know the identities of the suspects at the time of the October 2024 press release, investigators did know that the two suspects “were posing as DTE employees” and that the victim’s wife was also inside the home at the time of the murder. When deputies found the victim’s wife inside the home, she’d been “tied up and her hands were duct taped,” and she was not yet aware of the fate her husband suffered, telling deputies who happened upon her that she suspected the two men kidnapped her husband.
Authorities released Ring camera footage of the two suspects, later identified as Joshua Zuazo and Carlos Hernandez, as the two posed as DTE energy company employees and told the victim they were inspecting homes for gas leaks. In reality, the two men knew exactly where they were and who they were targeting, as text messages between Hernandez and his wife revealed how the home invasion turned murder plot was motivated by Murray’s accumulated wealth from the jewelry business.
Two days before the murderous home invasion, Hernandez’s wife had texted him in reference to the planned robbery, telling him, “I hope we get enough money to buy a house,” with Hernandez replying with, “Our own home.” After the wife of the now-convicted murderer speculated on a life with “no rent” in another reply via text, Hernandez reportedly wrote back to her with, “If what I feel is here, we gonna be good.”
When it came time to act on the plot cooked up by Zuazo and Hernandez, the two were at first shot down by Murray’s wife, Linda, when attempting to pose as DTE employees on October 10th, 2024, likely due to how late in the evening it was. However, when the two took another crack at the energy company employees hoax the following afternoon, Murray agreed to let them inspect the basement, leading to the trusting man’s untimely death.
Despite evidence showcasing Hernandez’s wife was aware of the home invasion/robbery plot, even texting her husband beforehand with, “Remember what I said, if things get sketchy, GTFO,” she was never formally charged in connection to the case.
During the two’s sentencing on December 9th, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Yasmine Poles scolded Zuazo and Hernandez, saying, “Rarely does the court see this level of depravity, this level of arrogance and greed.”
Judge Poles remarked on the “fantasy” the men had of landing a big score through the heinous murder-robbery, telling the men, “You couldn't care less about a man's life, in order for you to fulfill a fantasy of the life that you wanted. The white picket fence, the house. His life meant nothing to you.”
“The idea that there was such a loss of humanity in your actions,” Judge Poles emphasized, adding, “you go to his home the evening before, he looks at you eye-to-eye…and he's kind. Most people would not be kind at 10 o'clock in the evening. That doesn't stop you, that just alters your plan to go back the next day. And you go back the next day with the intent to deceive and invade.”
Judge Poles commented on how the two murderers thought they “came up with this brilliant plan,” and noted how their lackadaisical conversations on text about achieving a better life through their crime “led to a trail of evidence that ended up being copious amounts of evidence that led to very quick convictions with two separate juries.”
Both men were given life sentences without the possibility of parole, thus ensuring Zuazo and Hernandez will die behind bars.
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