Mistrial declared in Lehigh murder case
A mistrial was declared Thursday in the murder case of Mohammed Javed, the man accused of killing the mother of his children in 2008 and dumping her body in Lehigh Acres.
The presiding judge declared the mistrial over the State’s Attorney’s Office objections, said spokesman Samantha Syoen.
The judge sided with the defense after a detective with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office made a statement while on the witness stand.
“We’re preparing to take the case to trial again,” Syoen said.
The case has been set for trial on Sept. 13.
Previous reports show Javed reporting Susan Vicars, the mother of his two small children, missing on Feb. 8, 2008. He said he last saw her on Feb. 5.
Javed, 30, who lived at 1303 Meadow Road, Lehigh Acres, remains jailed on $500,000 bond on second-degree murder charges.
Two people cutting palm fronds in remote Lehigh Acres found Vicars’ skeletal remains on April 4, 2008.
Javed was told not to leave Lee County, Sheriff Mike Scott said in a press conference announcing Javed’s April 2008 arrest. Lee deputies placed electronic surveillance on Javed and tracked him up the East Coast and into New York where he abandoned his vehicle, Scott said at the time.
He was unaware he was being tracked. New York State Police began surveillance on him and an arrest warrant was issued.
He was on a bus heading into Canada, according to reports.
Javed has refused to speak with investigators.
In the initial missing person’s report, Javed said Vicars had been talking to several men on an Internet-based social networking service and one lived in North Carolina. Vicars allegedly told Javed she may be headed there to meet with the man, and left the residence on Feb. 5, 2008 with a suitcase, Javed reported. That was the last time anyone saw her alive.
Detectives do not believe she had met anyone on the web. She was from Canada.