Ex-University of Arizona grad student gets life sentence for killing professor on campus

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A former University of Arizona graduate student has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a professor on campus months after he was expelled. Forty-eight-year-old Murad Dervish was sentenced Monday. A Pima County jury last month found Murad Dervish guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Thomas Meixner. The professor was shot 11 times near his office in October 2022. Meixner headed the university’s Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. Dervish was in the master’s degree program in atmospheric sciences. Authorities said Dervish had been banned from the school and later expelled for ongoing issues with professors after he received a bad grade.