Najat Chemlali Goode, 57, was shot to death inside her Ashburn, Virginia home on the evening of December 30, 2021. Her son found her; investigators determined she had been shot three times and reported no signs of forced entry. Goode was an accountant who had emigrated from Casablanca, Morocco, in the early 1980s and was described by family as generous, kind, and fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

Surveillance footage and witness testimony, including from Goode’s daughter, led investigators to focus on a man seen near the residence in the days before the killing. That suspect, identified as Furqan Syed of Leesburg, was linked by evidence to three days of surveillance of the house. After a composite sketch was released, Syed fled the United States to Dubai; he was arrested there in March 2022 and extradited back to the U.S. to face charges.

At trial, jurors heard testimony from over 50 witnesses. The jury convicted Syed of first-degree murder, armed burglary, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony; he was sentenced to life plus 38 years. The sentencing judge characterized the killing as a deliberate assassination connected to Syed’s membership in the Messiah Foundation International, and Goode’s children testified about their loss.

If anyone knew Najat Goode, her routine, or observed suspicious activity near Connie Marie Terrace in late December 2021, please share what was seen.