Student accused of killing professor: ‘I fulfilled my mission’

The former University of Arizona grad student accused of killing a professor made a chilling confession after police walked out of his interrogation, according to newly released video.

Murad Dervish, 47, was filmed muttering to himself when detectives took a break from grilling him last year over the fatal shooting of Professor Thomas Meixner hours earlier.

“Well, at least I fulfilled my mission,” Dervish says with an apparent sinister smile.

Because the apparent confession was made after the suspect was read his Miranda rights, the statement will likely be used in court for prosecutors to establish premeditation in the Oct. 5, 2022 murder of the U of A professor, CBS 5 reported.

Meixner, 52, the school’s head of the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, was shot on the Tucson campus where Dervish, had been expelled and banned from visiting.

New footage from the day of the shooting shows several people inside the John W. Harshbarger building running away or ducking for cover moments after Meixner was killed.

One person could be seen peeking from behind a door, checking to see if the coast was clear before officers stormed the hallways and checked every door in the building, looking for the suspect and people to evacuate.

Police had already been en route to the building because they were called to remove Dervish, who was banned from stepping foot on campus, officials previously told The Post.

Dervish, however, had escaped and was allegedly trying to flee to Mexico before police captured him in Gila Bend, more than 100 miles away from the university.

During the interrogation, Dervish was reluctant to speak with police but appeared somewhat standoffish with the officers, according to the new video.

At one point, one of the officers tells him that they “have quite a bit of evidence, and I think you know what that evidence is.”

“Well, it’s a shame we can’t talk,” the suspect replies. “We seem like we have a lot in common. Going to U of A, living in San Diego.”

The officer then tells Dervish about the gun they found in his car, with Dervish telling the cops that they’ll eventually hear his side of the story in court.

Dervish is scheduled to undergo mental health evaluation in August in a bid from the defense to declare him mentally insane prior to the start of the trial in September, ABC 9 reports.