Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ninth Somali pleads guilty in fatal yacht hijacking

Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle are pictured here in 2005 in California. Both were reported killed by Somali pirates. Nine Somalis have now pleaded guilty to the piracy of their yacht in February.
Courtest of Joe Grande
Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle are pictured here in 2005 in California. Both were reported killed by Somali pirates. Nine Somalis have now pleaded guilty to the piracy of their yacht in February.

A ninth Somali man has pleaded guilty to piracy for his role in the hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans - including two from Seattle - dead.

Ahmed Sala Ali Burale pleaded guilty in federal court in Norfolk on Wednesday. Muhidin Salad Omar also pleaded guilty earlier in the day.

They are among 14 people from Somalia and one from Yemen charged in connection with the February hijacking of the yacht Quest.

Yacht owners Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., and friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman.

Prosecutors don't believe any of the men who have pleaded guilty shot the hostages.

They each face life in prison, although that could be reduced.

   

The Associated Press (“AP”) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP today is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. The AP considers itself to be the backbone of the world’s information system, serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in text, photos, graphics, audio and video.