A North Carolina man has been sentenced to decades in prison after fatally shooting his wife and disposing of her body in a lake. Omar Drabick, 37, received consecutive terms for second-degree murder and concealing the death of his wife Hadeel Ghadhanfer Hikmat, 34, in Apex.
Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour handed down the sentence of 25 to 31 years for second-degree murder and six to nine years for concealing the death. The terms will run consecutively. Drabick originally faced a first-degree murder charge but avoided it through a plea deal. Authorities linked him to the crime after a boater discovered Hikmat's body in Jordan Lake on Aug. 29, 2023, roughly 30 miles west of Raleigh. Evidence including shell casings and blood on a nearby bridge confirmed she was shot in the back and thrown from the structure. The couple's marriage had been arranged by Drabick's mother about a year after Hikmat arrived in the United States. Prosecutors said Drabick had grown unhappy with the union and searched online for ways to commit murder undetected. He later apologized in court, stating, 'From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry.' Defense attorneys noted his autism diagnosis as a factor in his inability to end the marriage peacefully. The judge rejected any notion that Drabick's mother bore responsibility for the outcome.