Man sentenced to 45 years in prison for killing former classmate whose remains were burned over ‘some marijuana and a couple of hundred bucks’

Jose Varela, left, was sentenced in the killing of Zuhyr Hamza Kaleem. (Photos from Harris County District Attorney

Jose Varela, left, was sentenced in the killing of Zuhyr Hamza Kaleem, right. (Photos from Harris County District Attorney’s Office)

A 24-year-old Texas man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the murder of a former high school classmate whose burned remains were found in a shallow grave a year later in a case stemming from “some marijuana and a couple hundred bucks.”

Jose Varela was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder for killing 22-year-old Zuhyr Hamza Kaleem on April 27, 2019.

“This was a premeditated murder that left a family questioning what happened to their loved one for more than a year,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. “With help from the victim’s family and great police work, we were able to get justice in this horrible case.”

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