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Trial Starts For Man Accused In 2016 Killing Of UW-Stout Student

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The trial starts Wednesday for a Minneapolis man accused of murdering an international student near the University of Wisconsin-Stout in October of 2016.

Cullen Michael Alex Osburn was arrested and charged by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office in January 2017 in the death of 24-year-old Hussain Seed Alnahdi outside Toppers Pizza in Menomonie, Wis., on Oct. 30, 2016. Charges filed in the case say police were called to the restaurant just after 2 a.m. on a report of a fight involving three men.

Cullen Osburn
Cullen Osburn (credit: CBS)

Authorities found Alnahdi unconscious and bleeding from the nose and mouth. Alnahdi, from Saudi Arabia, was taken to a hospital before being airlifted to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. He died the next day after suffering a traumatic brain injury.

His friends told authorities they were drinking with him on the night of Oct. 30, 2016, until about 1 a.m. when Alnahdi left to go to local bars. A friend of his ran into him just before the fight, and said Osburn approached him and started arguing with him for an unknown reason.

Court documents state the friend, Evan Walters, tried to separate the two when Osburn pushed him. Walter said the next thing he saw, Alnahdi was on the ground but didn't see Osburn push or hit him.

hussain-saeed-alnahdi
(credit: UW-Stout)

Osburn's sister told police she was with him, another brother and two other men that night and didn't witness the fight, but was told the three men she was with tried to stop the altercation. Osburn punched one of them accidentally. She said Osburn later told her Alnahdi grabbed his necklace, and Osburn pushed back.

Osburn has an extensive criminal history, including felony convictions for domestic assault and violating an order for protection. Besides being charged with Alnahdi's murder, he also faces a battery charge.

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