Closing arguments were heard and jury deliberations began Friday in the high-profile trial of a San Diego TikToker accused of killing his estranged wife and her friend in October of 2021.
Ali Abulaban, who has been in prison since the day of the shootings, admits he killed the couple. The question is if this was first- or second-degree murder.
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Prosecutor Taren Brast began her closing arguments in a downtown courtroom by asking the jury to find Ali Abulaban guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. She went through a timeline of the day Ali Abulaban killed Ana Abulaban and her friend Ray Barron, describing how Ali Abulaban had spied on Ana Abulaban to catch her with another man and that he had malice and intent to shoot them to death on the couch in the apartment where he once lived.
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"Heat of passion does not apply when you walk into an apartment that you had bugged, with a key card you were not supposed to have, to a fight that no one else knew was happening but you. And you brought a gun. That is not heat of passion," Brast said.
Brast said Ali Abulaban had plenty of time to rethink his decision to drive to the downtown luxury condo he shared with his wife to shoot and kill her and the man she was seeing.
The prosecutor displayed the graphic photos Ali Abulaban took of the bodies, played the sounds of the gunshot recordings he had on his phone and even mentioned the online searches for how to cut up and trash a body, among other things. She said Ali Abulaban killed the couple because he felt disrespected, and this was planned and premeditated, not a reaction in the heat of the moment that Ali Abulaban claims.
He was so possessive and controlling of Ana that if he could not have her, no one could. And she couldn't live, and any man she was with could not live either.
Prosecutor Taren Brast
Brast also mentioned the history of domestic violence and Ana Abulaban's text messages to Ali Abulaban expressing her fear and want to leave the marriage, and the chances he had to rethink his actions, like during the drive to the apartment to confront Ana Abulaban and Barron, and even the ride in the elevator.
"It was willful, deliberate and premeditated," Brast said.
Jodi Green, Ali Abulaban's defense attorney, then presented her closing arguments. Green says he shouldn't be convicted of murder because he had a bad childhood, mental health issues and was high on cocaine.
"Ali Abulaban is not a murderer. Yes, he killed Ana, the woman he loved, the mother of his beautiful daughter, Amira, and he killed Ray, a man with whom Ana was having an affair. And he cannot undo what he has done, but he did not murder them. He is not a murderer," Green said.
Green says it was manipulation and that Ana Abulaban dragged Ali Abulaban along.
"This relationship between Ana and Ali at this time is the apex of human emotion," Green said. "It may not be your marriage, it may not be my marriage, but it is their marriage in its heightened state of despair."
This relationship between Ana and Ali at this time is the apex of human emotion. It may not be your marriage, it may not be my marriage, but it is their marriage in its heightened state of despair.
Defense Attorney Jodi Green
The defense attorney also pointed out the fact that Ali Abulaban was re-racking his gun in between shots, which is unnecessary, and that it proves he was out of his mind, as well that he had cocaine in his system eight hours later, proving he was not of sound mind.
Ali Abulaban is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with allegations of using a gun in the killings. He's also charged with a special circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders.
Jury deliberations resume Tuesday morning.
