MENOMONIE, Wis. — A Dunn County judge reduced bond Thursday for a 27-year-old Minneapolis man charged in the death of a University of Wisconsin-Stout international student in October.
Cullen M. Osburn pleaded not guilty to charges of felony murder and aggravated battery. He is charged in the death of Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, 24. A status hearing is scheduled for June 19.
Judge Rod Smeltzer reduced bond from $75,000 to $25,000 at the request of defense lawyer Chris Zipko. He ordered Osburn not to possess or drink alcohol.
Zipko noted Osburn was not a threat to the community, particularly given Alnahdi’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the incident.
Alnahdi had a blood-alcohol level of 0.284 after a blood draw was taken at the hospital he was transported to, Menomonie police investigator Kelly Pollock said during a preliminary hearing. In Wisconsin, the legal limit to drive is 0.08.
District Attorney Andrea Nodolf objected to lowering bond, saying Osburn was now facing trial. He also lives in Minnesota, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to locate him.
Alnahdi, who was from Saudi Arabia, died Oct. 31 after being punched during an altercation in downtown Menomonie on Oct. 30.
The force required for the traumatic brain injury that killed Alnahdi would have equaled that of an auto accident or a fall from a tall building, Pollock testified the autopsy determined.
During a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Osburn’s brother, Deante Hughes, who was out with Osburn in downtown Menomonie, said they stopped at Toppers Pizza and ordered a pizza. Next he saw Osburn coming across the street from a tavern.
Hughes, who noted he was a little intoxicated, said he saw Osburn being grabbed by the collar by a man he later identified as Alnahdi, who was wearing orange. Hughes started pulling Osburn away, and another man dressed in green pulled Alnahdi away. Hughes said he also picked up Osburn’s necklace that Osburn said Alnahdi had pulled off his neck.
Pollock testified that a witness, Nina Simonette, had walked between Osburn and Alnahdi outside Toppers Pizza. Simonette heard yelling or some kind of disturbance.
Simonette told police she heard a man believed to be Osburn asking Alnahdi what he had said. She then saw Alnahdi put up his hand in the air. She saw the man hit Alnahdi and believed the man tried to hit the student a second time. She saw Alnahdi fall backward and strike his head on the side of the building.
Osburn’s sister Mariah Hughes told police Osburn told her that Alnahdi had grabbed a chain around his neck and he had possibly pushed Alnahdi.
Alnahdi and his roommates had a Halloween party before Alnahdi went downtown around 1 a.m. on Oct. 30. The incident outside the restaurant occurred about 2 a.m.
In the criminal complaint, another witness, Evan Walters, a friend of Alnahdi, told police he saw Alnahdi smoking a cigarette outside Toppers and stopped to talk to him. They were approached by a man who began arguing with Alnahdi and yelling at him. Walters was not sure what precipitated the confrontation. Alnahdi yelled back at the man and they were in each other’s faces yelling, Walters reported. Walters said he attempted to separate the two and Osburn pushed Walters away.
Walters did not see Alnahdi get hit but saw him fall to the ground with blood coming from his mouth and nose. Walters also reported he threw several punches at the other man but was unsure if he made contact.
Osburn, a convicted felon, was not a student at UW-Stout. He previously was convicted of domestic assault and failure to abide by an order to have no contact with the victim. The charges in Dunn County carry a penalty enhancer for the charges.
Alnahdi, who came to UW-Stout from Saudi Arabia to study English as a second language, was a junior majoring in business administration.