DTE impostors who murdered Rochester Hills man sentenced to life without parole

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two men convicted of murdering a man after posing as DTE workers to get into his Rochester Hills home received life without parole sentences Tuesday.

In the fall, jurors found Carlos Hernandez and Joshua Zuazo guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment for the Oct. 11, 2024 murder of 72-year-old Hussein Murray in the basement of his home.

The pair also received 19-80 years in prison for the unlawful imprisonment convictions. Both men declined to speak during sentencing, as they plan to appeal.

The backstory:

Hernandez and Zuazo first went to the victim's home on Newcastle Drive the night before the murder, claiming they were with DTE and were there to check a gas leak. When Hussein Murray's wife, Linda Murray, did not let them in, they said they would come back the next day, and they did.

During that visit, the men were let into the house and led down to the basement. Linda testified that Hernandez and Zuazo then came back upstairs without her husband, and Hernandez repeatedly asked her where the money, safe, and jewelry was. 

When she asked the men about where her husband was, she said Zuazo told her "he was asleep." She said she then saw blood on his vest and screamed. She claimed Hernandez struck her when covering her mouth, asking her to be quiet. She was then bound with duct tape.  

Items were then taken from the house by the suspects, including jewelry and cash.

The trial:

The men were tried in the same courtroom with different juries in October.

After hearing testimony from everyone from Linda Murray, to investigators, and other witnesses over the span of four days, the juries deliberated for only a few hours before handing down the guilty verdicts. 

Before the sentencing, two of Murray's sons spoke to FOX 2.

"This closes a chapter in this saga but it really doesn't close the wound," said Moheeb Murray. "And I don't know if that wound is ever going to close."

"There is a gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled," said Rehif Murray. "My dad was larger than life, and its a presence that you can't replace and you can't even attempt to fill.

"So that's something that we're going to have to live with for the rest of our lives."

Sentencing:

During the sentencing for Hernandez and Zuazo, Hussein's three sons gave victim impact statements. This included reading a poem written by Linda about the impact her husband's death continues to have on her.

In addition to sharing their pain, Hussein's son Abdu Murray admonished Hernandez and Zuazo for making the family go through a trial despite all the evidence, and forcing them to hear grisly details about the crime.

"All the while knowing they were guilty, but taking on the slimmest of chances, and the chances were exceedingly infinitesimally slim, that they would get out of that guilt, or that they would get less than the maximum sentence," he said.

Before handing down the life sentences, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Yasmine Poles called Hernandez and Zuazo's actions pathetic and told them that she hoped that Hussein's last moments haunt them.

"Rarely does the court see this level of depravity, this level of arrogance and greed," she told the men. "He (Hussein) was a loyal man. He was a hardworking man. How dare you?"