Ex-husband pleads not guilty to murder of KSU Ashtabula student

Jeffrey Stanley

Ella Abbott

The ex-husband of Rand Hilal Al Dulaimi, a Kent State Ashtabula student who was found dead in July, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Feb. 8 in Ashtabula County Common Pleas court.

Jeffrey Stanley was indicted on multiple charges, including murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, according to court records.

Al Dulaimi’s body was found on July 24, almost two weeks after she was reported missing.

She was married to Stanley at the time, but filed for divorce in September 2017. After Al Dulaimi’s disappearance, Stanley was arrested for a probation violation and put in jail.

The divorce was finalized the day after Al Dulaimi’s body was found, according to court records.

Al Dulaimi’s body was found near North Bend Road in Ashtabula. She died from neck compression and blunt-force head trauma, according to the Ashtabula County Coroner’s office.

Al Dulaimi and Stanley’s son, Omar, was placed in the custody of Ashtabula County Children Services following her disappearance. Al Dulaimi’s sister, Raul, is trying to come to the U.S. from Turkey to give her sister a memorial service and visit with her nephew, Fox 8 Cleveland reported in January.

Stanley is being held at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown on federal child pornography charges, which he pleaded guilty to last year; he is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

Ella Abbott is a senior reporter. Contact her at [email protected].