Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud

Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud (فيصل بن مساعد آل سعود, Fayṣal bin Musāʿid ʾĀl Suʿūd; 4 April 1944 – 18 June 1975) was the Assassin and nephew of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

Faisal bin Musa'id was born in 1944.

His father was Prince Musa'id bin Abdulaziz, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia and half-brother to all the six Saudi kings, including King Faisal, who have succeeded the founder.

In 1965, Faisal's older brother Khaled was shot and killed by a Saudi police officer while he led an assault on a new television station in Riyadh that had been recently founded by King Faisal.

Some people opposed the establishment of a national television service, as they believed it is immoral to produce images of humans.

While that is the official version, the details of his death are disputed and some reports allege that he actually died resisting arrest outside his own home.

Regardless, no investigation over his death was ever initiated.

Faisal had two other full siblings, Prince Bandar and Princess Al Jawhara.

Saudi businessman Abdul Rahman bin Musa'id Al Saud is his half-brother.

Faisal arrived in the United States in 1966 and attended San Francisco State College for two semesters studying English.

Allis Bens, director of the American Language Institute at San Francisco State, said, "He was friendly and polite and very well brought up, it seemed to me."

While Faisal was at San Francisco State, his brother Khaled was killed.

After leaving San Francisco State College, Faisal went to the University of California, Berkeley and then to the University of Colorado Boulder.

He was described by his peers as "[a] quiet, likable, notably unstudious young man".

University of Colorado Professor Edward Rozek, who had taught him in three comparative government courses, described him as "academically a D and a C student".

In 1969, while in Boulder, he was arrested for conspiring to sell LSD.

He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation for one year.

In May 1970, the district attorney dropped the charges.

In 1971, he received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Colorado and then returned to the San Francisco Bay area.

At the University of California, Berkeley, he enrolled in graduate courses in political science, but did not receive a master's degree.

After leaving the United States, he went to Beirut.

For unknown reasons, he also went to East Germany.

When he came back to Saudi Arabia, Saudi authorities seized his passport because of his troubles abroad.

He began teaching at Riyadh University and kept in touch with his girlfriend, Christine Surma, who was 26 at the time of the assassination.

Surma viewed the Saudi interest "in achieving peace with Israel" as a positive outcome "not available with the previous ruler King Faisal".

On 25 March 1975, Prince Faisal went to the Royal Palace in Riyadh, where King Faisal was holding a meeting, known as a majlis.

He joined a Kuwaiti delegation and lined up to meet the king.

The king recognized his nephew and bent his head forward, so that the younger Faisal could kiss the king's head in a sign of respect.

The prince took out a revolver from his robe and shot the King twice in the head.

His third shot missed and he threw the gun away.

King Faisal fell to the floor.

Bodyguards with swords and submachine guns arrested the prince.

The king was quickly rushed to a hospital but doctors were unable to save him.

Saudi television crews captured the entire assassination on camera.

Initial reports described Faisal bin Musaid as "mentally deranged".

He was moved to a Riyadh prison.

However, he was later deemed sane to be tried.

Faisal bin Musa'id's mother was Watfa, a daughter of Muhammad bin Talāl, the 12th and last Rashidi emir.

Musa'id and Watfa were divorced when Faisal was still young.

Therefore, he and his siblings were much closer to their maternal Rashidi relatives than to their paternal Al Saud relatives.