NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal jury has started deliberations in the trial a Somali man accused of being a pirate negotiator.
Mohammad Saaili Shibin faces piracy, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges in connection with the 2011 hijacking of an American yacht off the coast of Africa.
The yacht owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot and killed days later. They were the first U.S. citizens killed in pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
Shibin also faces charges in the 2010 hijacking of a German merchant ship in which crew members were tortured.
Jurors began deliberating in Virginia on Friday after more than a week of testimony.
