College Student Pleads Guilty To Stalking And Trying To Stab Woman For Being A 'Witch'

An Uzbek man living in North Dakota has pleaded guilty to attempting to knife a college student he briefly dated, because he suspected “she was a witch.”

Akmal Azizov, 21, pleaded guilty on Oct. 7 to attempted murder, stalking and criminal mischief. Police charged him after he carried out a surprise attack on a University of North Dakota student at her home on the night of Sept. 5.

Azizov confessed to Grand Forks police that he “believed the [woman] was the cause of all the stress and negativity in his life" — that she was evil — according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Oxygen.com. 

In fact, on the night of the attack, Azizov was armed with his skateboard and a new “2 to 3-inch” silver-bladed pocket knife he purchased from the online boutique website Etsy to do her harm. He also admitted at the time that he had been following the woman around the campus for several weeks, and made numerous attempts to kill her, “but lost his nerve at the last minute.”

The rejected man then told arresting officers that he felt he “had to slay” the woman, because “she was a witch,” according to the court documents and first reported by The Jamestown Sun.

Investigators searched Azizov’s computer and uncovered sites he visited suggesting silver was a lethal metal and a good way to get rid of a witch, according to the publication. 

Oxygen.com’s attempts to reach Azizov’s attorney, who argued in court that Azizov was mentally ill, were not immediately returned.

Azizov described to police his attempt on the woman's life, according to the affidavit.

When he mustered up enough courage to kill the woman he believed was a witch, Azizov told authorities, he rolled up on his skateboard to the woman’s apartment near the college campus. He took the skateboard and smashed the woman’s car window, and the commotion caused the woman to walk outside.

Azizov told cops he then charged and “grabbed the female from behind,” and tried to “cut [her] throat with the pocket knife he had bought specifically for that purpose,” according to the affidavit.

The man’s first swing of the knife missed the woman.

But, Azizov told authorities, he tried several more times after the helpless woman fell to the ground. 

By then, police said, a couple of Good Samaritans nearby intervened and managed to distract the raging Azizov long enough to bring the woman to safety. 

The woman survived the deadly attack with only three cuts to the left side of her neck and various bumps and bruises on her head and shoulder.

Once in custody, Azizov allegedly showed little remorse, according to the Jamestown Sun. He even told officers he would try try to murder the woman again if he was freed from jail.

Beyond Azizov's confession to investigators of trying to murder the woman, they also recovered the silver pocketknife he said he wielded. 

The young man is being held at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center, jail records show. He was transferred for a spell to receive mental health treatment at the Red River Behavior Health Center, but requested to be moved back to jail, according to the records.

Azizov faces over 20 years in prison for the attempt on the woman's life, when returns to court on Nov. 12 for sentencing. He could also be deported back to his native Uzbekistan after serving his sentence, according to The Jamestown Sun.

A theft charge accusing Azizov of stealing an inmate’s MP3 player before flushing it down the toilet was also tacked onto his caseload on Oct. 4, according to the Jamestown Sun.

The misdemeanor case will be back in court in January 2020, according to court records.