Abduwali Muse | |
|---|---|
| عبدلول موس Cabdiweli Muuse | |
.jpg) Muse escorted by FBI on 20 April 2009 | |
| Born | Abdulwali Abdukhad Muse[2] 1990 (age 35–36)[2] |
| Other names | Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse[3] Abduwali Abdukhadir Musé[4] Abdul Wali Muse[5] Abduhl Wal-i-Musi[6] |
| Known for | Maersk Alabama hijacking |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated atFederal Correctional Institution, Cumberland |
| Convictions | Hijacking x2 Kidnapping x2 Hostage taking x2[1] |
Abdulwali Abdukhad Muse[a] (born 1990) is a Somalipirate. He is the sole survivor of four pirates whohijacked theMV Maersk Alabama in April 2009 and then held CaptainRichard Phillips for ransom.[7] On 16 February 2011, Muse was convicted and sentenced to 33 years and 9 months inU.S. federal prison.[8]
Muse was portrayed by Somali-American actorBarkhad Abdi in the 2013 filmCaptain Phillips, a dramatization of the hijacking.
Muse was born as the eldest of twelve children in a village north ofGalkayo, adivided city. He is part of theOmar MohamoudMajeerteenclan.[9] Muse's parents wereherders, keeping camels, cows, and goats, and selling their milk for a living.[10] He grew up in poverty often without food or clothes. At a young age, he was kicked in the face by a camel and lost two of his front teeth. Muse began living alone at age 11 or 12 and initially worked as an assistant to taxi drivers, sustaining severe injuries during this time after being trampled by cows. At age 13, he moved toGaracad, where he worked as a cook for fishermen. He was married in 2008 but could not afford to establish a home for himself and his wife.[11]
According to his indictment, Muse was the first of the four men who boardedMaersk Alabama. During the attack, the pirates searched the ship to account for all the crew. While one pirate took the ship's captainRichard Phillips to a different part of the vessel, Muse and his remaining compatriots lost sight of third mate Collin Wright. The two other pirates opened fire on two crew members they found, but Muse ordered them to stop, after which one of the men, sailor Zahid Reza, volunteered to look for the rest of the crew, appealing to their shared religious beliefs. Below deck, Muse was attacked by chief engineer Mike Pirrey, allowing Reza to stab Muse in the hand. The crew held Muse hostage for five hours, with Muse telling Reza that the pirates sought a $3,000,000 ransom. Ultimately, Richard Phillips offered Muse and the other pirates $30,000 to leaveMaersk Alabama safely on the ship's lifeboat.[12][13] However, Muse's fellow pirates forced Phillips into the lifeboat beforeMaersk Alabama's crew could release Muse. All four pirates escaped the ship, with Phillips held hostage inside the lifeboat. A day laterUSSBainbridge intercepted the lifeboat; Navy officers negotiated with the armed pirates for hours and agreed to take Muse on boardBainbridge to "meet" with elders from his clan to negotiate the release of Phillips. After Muse had been taken on board, the three remaining pirates were shot dead simultaneously byNavy SEALsharpshooters. Muse was charged and taken into American custody. Muse was thought to be the first person to be charged withpiracy in an American court in more than 100 years,[14] when courts ruled in 1885 thatAmbrose Light was not a pirate vessel. A more recent case, 2008'sUnited States v. Shi,[15] which was quoted in his indictment, involves murder and a crew member taking over a ship and holding a hostage.[16]
In 2010, Muse was charged in connection with two additional attacks on international shipping.[17][18] The indictment does not name the two vessels involved, hijacked in March and April 2009. However, they are likely to include the 700-ton fishing vesselWin Far 161, which was used as amother ship in other attacks, including theMaersk Alabama hijacking.[19][20] Two of theWin Far 161's crew, one sailor from mainland China and the other from Indonesia, died of illness.[21]
Muse was tried in theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City.[22]
There was some confusion as to his age. According to theNew York Daily News, he was at the time 17 to 19 years old.[7] No birth record of Muse exists[23] as his mother gave birth at home through a midwife.[24] Muse was to stand trial in New York because of the localFBI office's expertise in handling cases where major crimes were perpetrated against Americans in Africa, such as the1998 United States embassy bombings inKenya andTanzania.CBC News also reported that U.S. authorities had considered transferring him to authorities in Kenya per international agreement to prosecute pirate suspects.[25][26]
When initially captured, U.S. officials reported Muse as being 16 to 20 years old, and that his name was Abduhl Wali-i-Musi. U.S. secretary of defenseRobert Gates asserted that all four pirate suspects were between the ages of 17 and 19. On 20 April 2009,CBC News reported that U.S. officials indicated that investigators had confirmed Muse was over 18, which removed additional steps that would be required to prosecute him had it been determined that he was a minor.[25]
Muse's mother, Adar Abdurahman Hassan, stated in a telephone interview with theAssociated Press that U.S. authorities had both his name and age wrong.[25] She indicated that Muse was 16 years old,[27] named him as Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse, and stated that he had gone missing after heading for school 15 days before the hijacking.[28] Muse's father, Abdiqadir Muse, gave his son's birthdate as 20 November 1993, which would have made him 15 at the time of the hijacking.[27] According to court testimony by NYPD detective Frederick Galloway, Muse admitted that he was "between 18 and 19" during questioning.[29] In an interview with theBBC Somali service, Muse's mother also appealed to the U.S. government and president to free her son,[30] asserting that Muse had been lured into pirate activity by "gangsters with money".[25] She claimed that he had only been involved in piracy for 15 days,[31] while the U.S. judiciary determined that Muse had led piracy activities for five weeks before targeting the Maersk Alabama.[32]
In a court ruling on 21 April 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck decided Muse was not under 18 and that he could betried as an adult.[33] Muse was then brought to New York to face trial on charges including piracy under thelaw of nations,conspiracy to seize a ship by force, conspiracy to commithostage-taking, and firearms related charges, carrying a potential of up to four life sentences.[34] The charge of piracy has a mandatory life sentence (18 USC 1651), and there is no parole in U.S. federal prisons.
On 19 May 2009, a federalgrand jury in New York returned a ten-count indictment against Muse.[35][36]
Muse pleaded guilty to the hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges on 18 May 2010.[37] Charges ofpiracy, punishable by a mandatory life sentence, and possession of amachine gun were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea for a sentence between 27 and 33 years.[23][38]
On 16 February 2011, Muse was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in federal prison.[39]
Muse was initially incarcerated at theFederal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute, in theCommunications Management Unit. He was temporarily moved to theFederal Correctional Institution, Edgefield before being transferred back to Terre Haute. As of December 2025, Muse is incarcerated atFederal Correctional Institution, Cumberland. His projected release date is 30 May 2038.[2]
Muse worked as a prisonorderly, although his wage was garnished to pay the restitution he owes for the hijacking as well as a court fee. He said he spent his free time in prison watching TV, reading and writing. In 2016, he acquired aGED. While in Terre Haute he received his first English lesson fromMufid Abdulqader who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison after theHoly Land Foundation trial.[40] He spent some time in solitary confinement for being "disruptive".[32] In 2017, Muse filed a lawsuit against three staff members of the Terre Haute facility, holding them responsible for the loss of 15 teeth, seven of which were extracted in 2011, through "deliberate indifference".[11][32]
Muse was portrayed by Somali-American actorBarkhad Abdi in the 2013 filmCaptain Phillips, a dramatization of the events in 2009, also starringTom Hanks as the titularRichard Phillips. The film received a nomination forBest Picture, and Abdi was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Muse.
ABDULWALI ABDUKHAD MUSE, AGE: 24, Register Number: 70636-054
It was not known when he will be brought to stand trial in New York, chosen because the local FBI office has a history of handling cases in Africa involving major crimes against Americans. His tribe is the Hawiye in the Darood clan. The suspect, believed to be 17 to 19 years old, could face life in prison if convicted.
If Wal-i-Musi is under 18, federal prosecutors would have to take a number of additional steps to justify charging him in federal court.
A court-appointed lawyer, Phil Weinstein, told the court he had spoken to the alleged pirate's father by telephone. "He says his son was born on November 20, 1993," which would make him 15, Mr Weinstein said. His mother insists he is 16.
