Dateline NBC season 32 episode 44: A detailed case overview

Dateline NBC season 32, episode 44 delves into some of the world's scariest crimes. This episode of Dateline, titled The Shadow in the Window, explores the heartbreaking 2017 murder of a 35-year-old mother, Nada Huranieh, and what that crime case posed for investigation later on. The twisted case ended with her son Muhammad Altantawi, being convicted of this crime.

Altantawi, who was then just 16, was charged with murdering his mother by asphyxiation and then attempting to make it look like a horrifying accident by throwing her body out of a second-floor window. The five-year process ended when Muhammad was given a 35-to-60-year sentence in prison, ending a case that had affected this community at all levels.

This episode of Dateline provides an all-around view of the crime, the investigation, and how it was solved, holding together the activities that ended in the whole process that led to the arrest and conviction of Altantawi. Breaking down into involved nuances, Dateline NBC reveals a profound treatment of a family tragedy that became a courtroom drama.

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About the crime in Dateline season 32 episode 44

Nada Huranieh was discovered dead in July 2017 outside her house in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Her body was found on the patio beneath a second-floor window with an initial assumption that she must have fallen, suggesting that an unfortunate accident was the cause of her death.

But on autopsy, it turned out that Huranieh was smothered with a damp cloth or towel before she was then thrown out of the window. She also had injuries that would point to a crime with intentional intent. Thus, the investigation treated the case as one of murder.

Prosecutors later revealed that Muhammad had sided with his father Bassel in their bitter divorce and, in an outburst of anger and rage, murdered his mother.

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Investigation

It took five long years of investigation before pinpointing a cause for the death of Nada Huranieh, and several pieces of evidence pointing towards her son Muhammad. Detectives investigating found inconsistencies in Muhammad's alibi regarding his whereabouts when he was saying he was out early in the morning during the time of the murder.

Suspicious activity had been captured in surveillance footage around the house, including shadows and objects such as a ladder and cleaning supplies that were arranged near the window. Cell phone records showed that Muhammad made several calls to his father, Bassell, at times when Muhammad claimed he was sleeping.

Detectives found that Muhammad faxed to his father a picture of the same window from which his mother would eventually be thrown three weeks before her death.

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Resolution

It took some years in court before this case was resolved. Muhammad Altantawi was found guilty of murdering his mother. He was sentenced to 35 to 60 years in jail.

The prosecution brought a life sentence without parole but, on the call of the U.S. Supreme Court declaring that life sentences given to juveniles without parole were unconstitutional, the request was withdrawn. While maintaining innocence throughout the case, he even asked to be framed by coming out as a "woman-hating Muslim."

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Dateline NBC season 32 episode 44 will premiere on Friday, September 20 at 10/9c.