MENOMONIE, Wis. - A Minnesota man is charged in the beating death of an international student at UW-Stout last October.
A criminal complaint filed in Dunn County Court details the charges filed against 27-year-old Cullen Osburn of Minneapolis.
Witnesses say the victim, Hussein Saeed Alnahdi, had been drinking with friends when he decided to walk to downtown Menomonie around 1 a.m. October 30. One of his friends later walked downtown and saw Alnahdi outside Toppers pizza around 2:11 a.m. smoking a cigarette. While the two were talking a white male, later identified as Osburn, approached and began arguing with Alnahdi. Soon the two were in each others faces, and the witness tried to separate the men but says he was pushed away by Osburn. The next thing he knew Alnahdi was falling to the ground.
First responders were called to the scene and found the victim unresponsive, bleeding from his mouth and nose. Alnahdi was transported to a local hospital, and then airlifted to Mayo in Eau Claire where he died from brain injuries caused by a significant skull fracture.
On November 2 and 3 investigators met with a woman who had purchased a pizza at the time of the fatal altercation. She told police that she was in Menomonie with a group that included her two brothers, one of whom is Cullen Osburn. The woman said she heard something something hit the window of Toppers and realized a fight was going on. Her other brother told her that Osburn was arguing with Alnahdi and struck him, reportedly after the victim grabbed him by a chain around his neck. While the second brother was attempting to help Alnahdi, Osburn reportedly ran from the scene.
Another witness encountered a man later identified on surveillance tape as Osburn outside a local convenience store. The witness told investigators that Osburn approached his car, told him he had punched a man who was "bleeding out" and needed a ride to campus. When he told Osburn he didn't know where campus was and that he needed to get home, the defendant allegedly told the witness he'd have to punch him too.
The criminal complaint says that on November 2 the lead investigators received a call from Osburn himself, who told her that he was scared and wished to cooperate but needed to have an attorney with him when he spoke to authorities. He was adamant that the altercation was not because of race. Osburn called the next day and said he would be scheduling an interview soon, but did not call back. When police tried to contact him the defendant's phone had been disconnected.
After being on the run for more than two months investigators were able to locate Osburn, and he was arrested without incident Thursday night in St. Paul by Menomonie Police and members of the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF) and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force.
Cullen Osburn is charged with murder and battery in the death of Almahdi. If convicted in the beating death he faces longer sentences as he is a repeat offender.
