Left inset: Ceasar Wilson (Colorado Springs Police Department). Right: Haleh Abghari (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs). Background: The Colorado neighborhood where Haleh Abghari was attacked and killed by Ceasar Wilson inside her home (KRDO/YouTube).
A Colorado man was sentenced to more than 200 years in prison for murder and a slew of other crimes after sneaking into a college professor's home while she was alone and ambushing her in a stabbing attack.
Ceasar Wilson, 54, was sentenced Wednesday for killing University of Colorado Colorado Springs Professor Haleh Abghari at her home in Colorado Springs. Wilson ambushed her while she was getting ready for bed, then went on a "shopping spree" with her credit card, according to testimony provided at his trial in February.
According to The Gazette newspaper, prosecutors recounted during closing arguments how Wilson sneaked in through Abghari's open garage on the night of Aug. 7, 2024, with the intention of stealing from her home but then encountered the visual and performing arts professor in her bathroom and changed his mind.
Wilson plunged a knife into the 54-year-old five times after a struggle ensued, with a fatal blow landing to Abghari's chest, the Gazette reports. Police found a bloody palm print on the bathroom counter that Wilson left and DNA evidence underneath Abghari's fingernails.
After the slaying, Wilson took Abghari's credit card and car, then went on a "shopping spree," according to prosecutors. "Using Haleh's credit card, using her car to drive around … He knows what he is doing," El Paso County Senior Deputy District Attorney Brien Cecil told the jury.
Wilson was eventually arrested in Lincoln County on Aug. 23, 2024, after he stole another vehicle and tried to flee law enforcement. Prosecutors said he injured a person while attempting to evade arrest, but at the time, authorities didn't know he was suspected of killing Abghari.
It wasn't until seven months after the Abghari killing that El Paso County prosecutors charged him. Wilson was found guilty in February of second-degree murder, crime of violence sentence enhancers, aggravated robbery, motor vehicle theft and identity theft.
"The violence perpetrated by the defendant against Haleh Abghari, an innocent woman alone in her own home, deserved the harsh sentence issued today in court," El Paso County DA Michael J. Allen said in a statement after Wilson was sentenced.
"Ms. Abghari's death was a devastating loss for her family, the UCCS Community she helped shape for over a decade, and the entire 4th Judicial District," Allen said. "We are grateful to see a just outcome in this case, and to our partners at the Colorado Springs Police Department and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for seeing this process through, from start to end."
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