Left: Omar Drabick. Right: Hadeel Hikmat (Chatham County Sheriff”s Office).
A North Carolina man will spend decades behind bars after a gruesome crime driven by his desire to escape an arranged marriage. Omar Matthew Ibrahim Drabick, 37, has been sentenced to 25 to 31 years for the second-degree murder of his wife, Hadeel Ghadhanfer Hikmat, 34, with an additional six to nine years for concealing her death, in Apex, North Carolina. These sentences will run consecutively, marking a grim chapter in what began as a marital union orchestrated by Drabick’s mother.
The tragic discovery unfolded on August 29, 2023, when a boater stumbled upon Hikmat’s body in Jordan Lake, approximately 30 miles west of Raleigh. Investigators traced the crime back to a nearby bridge where they found shell casings, blood, and the victim’s jewelry, uncovering the chilling truth that Drabick had shot his wife in the back before disposing of her body in the lake.
Hikmat had only arrived in the United States about a year before her death, a result of the arranged marriage organized by Drabick’s mother. However, the union quickly soured for Drabick, who grew desperate to end the relationship. According to a courtroom report from the Raleigh News & Observer, Drabick expressed a wish for his wife to leave him for a wealthy man, as revealed in a warrant examined by Law&Crime.
This case, which initially involved a first-degree murder charge, underscores the tragic outcomes that can arise from forced commitments and the devastating decisions made in their wake. As Drabick begins his lengthy prison term, the community and those involved are left to grapple with the consequences of his actions and the loss of a young life.
But Drabick soon soured on the marriage and began looking for ways to get out of it. A warrant reviewed by Law&Crime says Drabick wished his wife would run off with a rich man.
On the night of her murder, Drabick picked his wife up from a Walmart where she worked and the two went to eat at a Denny’s. Drabick told a friend that the two then went to a park around 2 a.m. where they met a man from Iraq who drove a van. The now-convicted murderer told his friend that the man kissed his wife and said Hikmat “should not be with the man with nothing and needed to be with someone who had money,” cops wrote.
Drabick claimed his wife left with the man in the van. His friend told cops that Drabick’s story did not make sense and believed it to be untrue.
Authorities determined Drabick drove his wife to the bridge for their fatal encounter shortly after 2:30 a.m. Aug. 29, 2023. According to the News & Observer, Drabick had recently bought the gun used to kill his wife. He also reportedly searched his phone for ways to get away with murder. Investigators discovered Hikmat’s blood on Drabick’s shoes and in the trunk of his car.
Prosecutor Marci Trageser said at sentencing that the situation between Drabick and the victim spiraled out of control.
“There is no one, I think, in this courtroom or even listening [who] could ever have predicted what would happen and why it would happen,” she told the court, per the News & Observer.
Drabick’s mother said she bore some responsibility for the tragedy as she’s the one who set up the marriage. But the judge felt otherwise.
“I don’t see that anyone goes into [arranged marriages] thinking of this as a result,” Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour said, the newspaper reported. “So while I can appreciate the feeling of responsibility, I don’t think it’s a burden that you should bear.”
Defense attorneys said their client had autism and lacked the social skills needed to end the marriage peacefully.
When asked if he wanted to address the court, Drabick reportedly said: “From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry.”