(JTA) -- A Binghamton University graduate student from Saudi Arabia was charged with killing a professor emeritus in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies.
Abdulsalam al-Zahrani was charged Saturday with stabbing to death Richard Antoun last Friday in his office at the update New York university.
Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen said in a statement that there is no indication of a religious or ethnic motivation, according to reports.
Antoun, 77, had conducted research in Jordan, Lebanon and Iran, according to reports.
“He dedicated his life to trying to understand the people of the Middle East,” Antoun’s sister Linda Miller, of Holden, Mass., told The New York Times.
Antoun’s wife of 17 years, Rosalyn, 63, is an employee of the local Jewish federation.
A published report said Antoun was Jewish, but it could not be confirmed.
