Inset: Negasi Zuberi. Background: Two images of a makeshift cell allegedly used to confine kidnapped women in Oregon (FBI).
Disturbing new details have been revealed in the federal kidnapping case against an Oregon man who allegedly held a woman captive in a makeshift cinder block cell in his garage before she miraculously escaped after being repeatedly sexually assaulted last summer.
Negasi Zuberi, 30, currently stands accused of eight federal charges, including two counts of kidnapping, one count of transportation for criminal sexual activity, one count of attempted escaping from jail, and four weapons and ammunition charges related to his status as a felon.
In a series of recently filed court documents, prosecutors allege the defendant had an ambitious plan to “raise an Army” of children in a bunker using various women he kidnapped as breeding stock.
In July 2023, a Washington State woman led investigators to her former cell — at a house in Klamath Falls, Oregon, near the California border, resulting in the defendant’s arrest. But while she may be the last alleged victim, authorities don’t believe she’s the first. Zuberi was arrested on a complaint and then indicted in August 2023. A more expansive superseding indictment was filed in February.
Federal authorities have noted that Zuberi has lived in at least 10 states over the last 10 years. He is believed to have sexually assaulted numerous women over a roughly eight-year timespan — between 2016 and 2023 — frequently targeting sex workers and roommates. He is also known as “Sakima,” “Justin Hyche,” or “Justin Kouassi.”
“Sakima has several different methods to gain control of his victims, including drugging their drinks, pretending to be a police officer, and soliciting the services of sex workers and then violently sexually assaulting them,” the FBI said in a departmentwide information page following his arrest. æSome of the encounters may have been filmed to make it appear as if the assault was consensual. The victims are threatened with retaliation if they notify the police.”
In between the filing of the two indictments, he allegedly tried to escape from the Jackson County Jail, where he is in pretrial detention.
Zuberi now faces a litany of combined federal and state charges — including two additional alleged victims: one minor and one adult.
The minor, however, is only a potential witness in the present federal case. The second adult’s allegations about her rape and confinement are detailed in a motion filed by prosecutors in May.
The docket on his federal case in the District of Oregon before U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane shows a well-worn effort by the state and the defense. The motions practice in public filings — some filings are under seal — is largely aimed at the introduction or the exclusion of certain pieces of evidence for Zuberi’s eventual jury trial.
Instructive in the government’s case will be using a document referred to as the “Operation Take Over” note.
When Klamath Falls Police Department officers found the makeshift cell, they also found a notebook outlining a disturbing plan.
The handwritten document reads: “Leave phone at home. Make sure they don’t have a bunch of ppl in their life. You don’t want any type of investigation.” A second page in the document appears to detail how to dispose of bodies: “Dig a hole straight down 100ft.”
The defense objected to the inclusion of that note — arguing that it “does not bear on the charged crimes” and that nothing in the note is alleged to have happened at all and certainly not with” the two adult victims whose allegations form the basis of the present federal case.
Also at issue is an alleged “Targets” list of would-be victims.
Zuberi’s defense attorney argued that neither of the two women allegedly raped, beaten, and kept prisoner by the defendant were on the list in question. Broadly, the defense aimed to exclude evidence pointing to a “greater scheme” or plan to kidnap women.
Prosecutors say the evidence points to the defendant’s motives.
“The government does intend to introduce the Operation Take Over note, Mr. Zuberi’s sketched out plans for an underground structure, his statements about the proper role of women, and the Targets list itself (as well as evidence that two of the listed names — including one of their birth date — belonged to real women, along with the nature of their employment),” a recent filing reads. “All of these were found in Mr. Zuberi’s residence, except for his message about the role of women, and the Targets list was timely — dated July of 2023. These items are all direct windows into Mr. Zuberi’s mindset.”
The government’s motion continues at length:
They show his preparation and planning. And, if there is any doubt as to the purpose of the cell or the import of his kidnapping tools, they enlighten and augment the existing evidence. The Operation Take Over note sketches out characteristics of an ideal victim — someone with few personal connections. The Targets list prefaced with “You must raise an Army,” echoes statements he made to [adult victim 2] and is evidence of Mr. Zuberi’s intent and motive. He did not seek out [the two adult women] for consensual sex, he saw them as targets. This evidence puts the jury inside Mr. Zuberi’s thoughts in the lead-up to his crimes — his plotting, preparation, intent, motive, creation of opportunity, and absence of mistake.
Yet another dispute concerns using the term “cell” during the trial. Zuberi claims the room was a sound studio. The prosecution contends it was used as a cell — but invited the defense to use whatever term they prefer and let the “jury decide which is correct.”
A Tuesday hearing deals with various motions and the 471 pieces of evidence in the case. In the end, the court largely aligned with the state and nixed several defense objections, according to a courtroom report by Eugene-based ABC affiliate KEZI.
During that hearing, McShane reportedly said the evidence suggested the defendant intended to build a large, underground bunker to house his children birthed by various women. In other notes, the judge said the defendant appeared to be looking for land suitable for the task.
Zuberi is slated to begin trial on Oct. 17 in Medford, Oregon.
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