MI Used Cars of Luxury Tied to Detroit Drug Lord's Execution Orders

DETROIT, M.I. – An MI used cars dealer who also sold luxury vehicles was executed in his own car lot in broad daylight.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Waad Murad had been selling MI used cars of luxury brands like BMW, Jaguars and others for years from Woodward and 7 Mile, his MI used cars location in Detroit. But selling and purchasing vehicles to the wrong clientele ultimately cost him his life.

One customer in particular, Adarus M. Black, was an infamous drug dealer, and it was Black that authorities say ordered the hit on Murad in 2005 because he suspected Murad was talking to federal investigators.

Federal investigators had in fact raided Murad's dealership after they traced a Cadillac Escalade involved in a 2004 double homicide to Murad's MI used cars metro car lot. The Escalade was the vehicle in which two drug dealers were last seen driving before they were killed, and though the Detroit Free Press did not say how soon after the murders the luxury SUV arrived at Murad's lot, it was the hook that led investigators to Murad; and they raided Murad's dealership in 2005.

Murad was killed four months after the raid and six years later, one of the men charged for Murad's murder is on trial. Herman N. Johnson is said by prosecutors to have been paid $2,000 for the crime of planning Murad's execution carried out by shooter Gibran Gotcher. This hit was ordered by Black because Black feared Murad was an informant.

Black was arrested in October of 2007 and was sentenced to life in prison in December of 2009. Among his convictions were drug trafficking and an escape attempt, but he was not tried at that time for the Detroit murder or other murders he was a suspect in.

Black had used tour buses to smuggle money and drugs such as marijuana and cocaine across the country. Fearing he would finally be caught, he left to Mexico to conceal his identity where he had multiple plastic surgeries performed including changing his nose and hairline and transplanting skin from his toes to his fingertips to prevent his fingerprints from being recognized.

A federal drug agent named Ed Donovan revealed to the court during Johnson's trial that Murad did begin working with authorities and had helped them solve drug-related cases before his death.

Murad was a family man and father, and a fund was created in his name by the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce to honor him. The Waad Murad Memorial Advocacy Fund seeks to offer rewards a minimum of $10,000 for those who come forward against criminals targeting business workers.

[Source(s): Detroit Free Press, Associated Press]