Friends speak out after apparent West Valley 'honor killing'

GLENDALE, AZ -- Friends of a 20-year-old woman run over and killed in what attorneys are calling an "honor killing" are speaking out for the first time about the warning signs they saw.

Investigators say Noor Almaleki's father was behind the wheel when she and another woman were struck in a Peoria parking lot last month.

"She was a good person, and moral," said Sharlee Caudle, a friend of Noor's.  "Most parents would be glad to have a child like that."

Her friends paint the picture of an aspiring model and actress, working and going to school.

Nicole Furugia worked with Noor at Applebee's, and kept in touch with her until her death.

"She was strong, beautiful, really caring," said Furugia.  "She was always willing to help people."

But her employment there was short lived.

"She came in all frantic one day and asked me to cover her shift because her father found out where she worked," said Furugia.  "She had to quit her job, and she had to move."
 
Furugia said she went with Noor to look into getting a restraining order against her father, Faleh Hassan Almaleki.

"She was very determined on getting it," said Furugia.  "She was scared."

Other friends said Noor's father had taken her to Iraq under the pretense they were visiting relatives, and married her off.  They say Noor's family left her to fend for herself and come up with the money to find her way back to America, where she moved in with the fiance she loved.

"He can kick her out of the house, he can disown her," said Caudle.  "But he had no right, no right at all, to run her down and end her life."

Police say Faleh Hassan Almaleki killed his daughter because she was "too Western."  Only he will be able to explain himself when he pleads his case.

Almaleki is expected in court Monday, where he may hear new charges filed against him.  He was originally charged with two counts of aggravated assault and fleeing the scene of an accident, but police say those charges will be upgraded since his daughter died.

The other woman, Amal Khalef, with whom Noor was living, was also hit in the same incident.  Her lawyer said she is conscious and recovering in the hospital.

House Fire at Almaleki home

GLENDALE, AZ - A home believed to belong to the family at the center of a high profile murder investigation caught fire early Friday.

According to Glendale Fire Spokesperson Daniel Valenzuela, crews were called to the house near 75th and Glendale avenues just before 4 a.m.

SEE PICTURES FROM THE SCENE IN THE ATTACHED SLIDESHOW

The address matches the home owned by a man who allegedly ran down and killed his daughter with a Jeep last month.

Valenzuela said the garage of the home was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived, but everyone inside was able to get out safely and the fire was put out.

A person inside the home apparently heard a smoke alarm, went to investigate, and then notified the fire department.

At least nine people were inside the home when the fire started, the Associated Press reported.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this point, but authorities say there's no indication the fire was intentionally set.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, is accused of hitting his daughter and a friend with his car because he believed his daughter had become “too westernized."

Currently in jail, he missed a Thursday court appearance after being placed on suicide watch.

His 20-year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki, succumbed to her injuries on Monday after surviving for nearly two weeks in a hospital.

Another woman, Amal Khalaf, 43, is still recovering from her injuries at an undisclosed hospital, according to her attorney Henry Salem.

Salem said Khalaf suffered several broken bones and is now mourning the loss of her family friend.

According to court paperwork, Faleh Almaleki fled the country after he was accused of committing the attack on October 20.  

Court paperwork indicates he ditched his Jeep in Mexico before boarding a plane to London, where he was denied entry into the country and placed on a flight back to Atlanta.

Police took him into custody when he landed in Georgia.

He was returned to Peoria last week, where he was booked on two charges of aggravated assault before being transported to the 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix.

Police Spokesman Mike Tellef said the charges will be upgraded after violent crimes detectives meet with the county attorney. 

Tellef could not say whether Khalaf was also targeted or just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Noor had been living with Khalaf - her boyfriend's mother - according to police.   

Shannon Stone, an apartment manager, says she leased an apartment to Noor and a friend earlier this year.

"I can't believe this would happen to her. She seemed so responsible, going to school, trying to do it all on her own," Stone said. "She seemed very kind, respectful."

Stone says she believes Faleh Almaleki should pay for what he's accused of doing to his daughter. 

"That was his daughter, that was his own flesh and blood. You just don't do that, so he must pay for what he did," she said.

A neighbor in north Peoria where the family used to live said that the father always appeared stern. 

Police said witnesses also reported that Almaleki fought with Noor about turning away from their traditional Iraqi values. Noor is also said to live with her boyfriend, a taboo in Muslim culture.

The Muslim community throughout the Valley has since gathered to address the issue and figure out plans to stop domestic violence and avoid a similar tragedy in the future.

"I believe such a crime has nothing to do with the teaching of Islam, the tolerant teaching of Islam, or of any religion," said Ahmad Shqeirat, Imam of the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.

Shqeirat said he and dozens of other Muslim leaders around the Valley met over the weekend to discuss outreach and education programs to raise awareness of domestic violence and raising children in the West.

"We try to talk to our children, to educate them to go directly to marriage, but it doesn't mean if one of these kids made a mistake, the reaction should be such a barbaric crime," said Shqeirat.

He and other Muslim leaders signed a "covenant" expressing a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of violence.