PORTLAND, OREGON: Negasi Zuberi, a resident of Klamath Falls, Oregon, was indicted on August 2 for an interstate kidnapping and keeping the victim captive in a makeshift cell in his garage. After he was arrested on July 16 following the woman's escape, the police found he was connected to more crimes and sought the FBI's help to locate other probable victims.
The FBI said that they believe Zuberi targeted sex workers or roommates in ten states - namely California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, and Nevada, between August 2016 and July 2023, per CNN. He is expected to be slapped with multiple charges.
Meanwhile, in an unexpected twist, it appears Zubari once appeared on the reality show ‘Judge Judy’ in order to get justice against his ex-fiancee.
Why was Negasi Zuberi on 'Judge Judy'?
Negasi Zuberi appeared in a 2018 episode of ‘Judge Judy’ with the mother of his two children under the alias Justin Hyche, per NBC. He also has two other aliases, namely Sakima and Justin Kouassi.
The TV episode has been circulating on the internet, especially on Facebook, after Zuberi's arrest. In the episode, he claimed that his ex-fiancee assaulted him with a glass bottle in June 2018 and destroyed property at his home a few days later.
He further claimed that he came to New York from California with the woman when their son was born. While their son was then 21 months old, they were no longer together.
Zuberi provided video evidence from the initial event, which ‘Judge Judy’ Sheindlin observed in the set's courtroom. The mother could be heard in the video imploring Zuberi not to take their child outside in the cold. She is then heard asking someone standing nearby to call the cops while claiming Zuberi is inebriated.
From the video, it appeared that the woman and Zuberi had some physical exchanges before coming out. The sound of a glass bottle cracking on the sidewalk is then heard.
Zuberi told Sheindlin that he reported the woman to the police but was arrested instead. He was jailed for nearly two days. Zuberi told Sheindlin, "They completely went on her side, they assumed that I assaulted her, and they didn't believe anything I said.”
The woman is then heard saying that while she went to his house at 11 pm to pick her son up, he did not let the mother take her child. However, Sheindlin took Zuberi’s side and castigated her for not coming at 6 pm, which was the time agreed upon earlier.
In response, the woman said she was pregnant at the time and claimed Zuberi put his hands on her. She also claimed she was not feeling well and called an ambulance to check her blood pressure.
However, Sheindlin said she didn’t believe her and asked for medical proof. She added, "Who cares about your blood pressure?" She then asked whether the baby was Zuberi’s, to which the woman replied, "There could be a possibility."
The mother of his child, whose identity is not known, claimed that she did not attack Zuberi or destroy his property. Rather, she countersued her ex-fiance for breaking her phone after getting out of jail after two days.
Sheindlin, however, dismissed the claim and supported Zuberi. She asked the woman to pay $2500 for destroying his property.
Judge Judy further said to Zuberi, "I would’ve awarded you money for false arrest because I don’t think that there was any basis for you to be arrested other than the police in New York sometimes are scared not to make an arrest if there’s a call for domestic violence.”
What are Zuberi's other crimes?
Apart from one count of interstate kidnapping, Zuberi has been accused of at least four counts of sexual assaults in four states. Per the authorities, the woman with whom he appeared on ‘Judge Judy’ sought a protective order against him three years ago. She accused him of attacking, abusing, and threatening to kill her two children.
