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Pulse shooter's wife told FBI she knew he was planning Pulse attack

By Daniel Uria
FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez testified Monday that Noor Salman, the wife of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, said she knew he was planning an attack in a series of statements to the FBI. Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI
FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez testified Monday that Noor Salman, the wife of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, said she knew he was planning an attack in a series of statements to the FBI. Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

March 19 (UPI) -- Noor Salman, the widow of Pulse night club shooter Omar Mateen, told FBI investigators she was aware her husband was preparing to commit a violent act.

FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez testified Monday he transcribed three statements by Salman in which she said she was aware Mateen had plans to carry out the shooting at the Orlando, Fla., night club which killed 49 people.

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"I am sorry for what happened," the statement read. "I wish I'd go back and tell his family and the police what he was going to do."

Enriquez told the court the apology led him to believe Salman was aware of what her husband was planning, which she denied until he asked her to read the written statement again.

"She began to cry and said, 'I knew,'" Enriquez said.

Salman, 31, is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice for allegedly misleading law enforcement agents in their investigation of the June 2016 shooting.

Enriquez said he wrote down what Salman dictated in three statements to the FBI and then had her initial each paragraph to verify the accuracy and truthfulness.

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In the first statement Salman said she was concerned Mateen was going to commit an act of terrorism because he had been watching violent beheading videos. She also said he made expensive purchases in the days before the attack including buying a rifle, ammunition, toys for their son and a $7,000 ring for her.

She also said Mateen asked her "how bad it would be" if a night club was attacked compared to an attack on Disney World.

In the second statement Salman said Mateen had been going to the gun range to practice and spending money on ammunition in preparation for the attack.

She also said she knew Mateen was going to do "something bad" involving a night club after seeing him leave with his handgun, a black backpack and ammo, but she didn't believe he was capable of carrying out the attack.

"I was in denial because I could not believe that the father of my child would do this," she said.

In the third statement Salman said she repeatedly attempted to call Mateen's cellphone on the night of the shooting but he never answered.

She also apologized for lying to the FBI.

On her first day of trial, Salman's defense lawyer Linda Moreno said she is a "trusting, simple" woman who has an IQ of 84 and had no idea her husband was planning to carry out the attack.

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Moreno also said she was a victim of Mateen's abuse and infidelity and called the FBI's hourslong questioning coercive.

"Omar Mateen is a monster. Noor Salman is a mother, not a monster. Her only sin is she married a monster," Moreno said.

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