BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A jury Thursday night found Andre Miles of Winton Place guilty of aggravated murder in the execution-style shootings of an East Westwood grocer and his brother.
Mr. Miles, a customer at the grocery store, was hired to kill Maher Khrais, 35, the owner of Save Way II on McHenry Avenue. The owner's 49-year-old brother, Ziad Khreis, just happened to be present and was killed, too, when the murder plot was being carried out.
The jury deliberated throughout Thursday afternoon in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court before finding Mr. Miles guilty in the Nov. 22 slayings in the parking lot of the store. Judge Arthur Ney Jr., ordered the same jury to return Oct. 5 to begin the penalty phase -- a hearing in which the jury could recommend the death penalty for Mr. Miles.
The 25-year-old Winton Place man was silent as he was escorted from the near-empty courthouse in handcuffs shortly before 7 p.m. The victims' 38-year-old brother, Nidal Khrais of Jordan, said he was pleased with the verdict. Nonetheless, Nidal Khrais and other family and friends of the victims left the courtroom asking, "Who was the mastermind?"
They believe with "100-percent" certainty that it was the store owner's widow, Linda Khriss of Cheviot. But she was acquitted by a jury of all charges earlier this year.
Prosecutors had alleged that Mrs. Khriss asked an employee in her husband's store, Ahmad Fawzi Issa, to arrange the murder of her husband.
Mr. Issa provided Mr. Miles with a MAK-90, a Chinese assault rifle and the murder weapon.
During closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors told jurors that Mr. Miles and Mr. Issa met several times to discuss the crime, including the possibility that more than one person might have to die.
"He sat down and he considered it," Assistant Prosecutor Richard Gibson said of Mr. Miles. "He thought about it and he decided he was going to do it."
Earlier this month, Mr. Issa was convicted of aggravated murder for serving as the middleman in the murder plot and hiring Mr. Miles. Mr. Issa could receive the death penalty when he is sentenced Oct. 16. In a way, Nidal Khrais said as he left the courthouse, the two convicted suspects and his two slain brothers were all victims of a free woman who ordered the slayings. He filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in civil court Monday against Mrs. Khriss, blaming her for the slayings. She has called the civil charges "all lies."
