The object identified as the weapon used in the death of a man found in a vehicle on Morgantown Road will undergo additional analysis after initial tests showed the presence of blood.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner said, regarding the case against Ali Fadil, that forensic testing of the object showed a presumptive positive result for blood and that additional analysis will be performed to test for DNA evidence.

Fadil, 31, is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, all in connection with the death of Michael Scott Lee, 56, of Bowling Green.

Lee’s body was found in a Jeep Cherokee on Morgantown Road in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2024.

Fadil appeared Monday in Warren Circuit Court for a pretrial conference in his case, standing with his court-appointed attorney, Jason Pfeil of the Department of Public Advocacy.

Bumgarner said in court Monday that she also planned to file a motion to have Fadil and his father, Sabah Khadim, tried together.

Khadim, 57, of Bowling Green, has pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence and his case is set for a jury trial beginning May 5.

Bumgarner said that neither co-defendant mentioned the other while giving statements to police and that trying Fadil and Khadim separately would be logistically burdensome, with the prosecution relying on witnesses from multiple investigative agencies.

Fadil has not received a trial date in his case.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office investigated Lee’s death after a passing motorist called to report a wrecked vehicle in the 11000 block of Morgantown Road.

Lee’s body was found inside the vehicle, and authorities determined that his injuries were consistent with those sustained from a vehicle crash, according to prior court testimony.

WCSO Detective Nick Jewell testified during a hearing last year that law enforcement noted trauma to Lee’s head and recovered a sledgehammer with apparent blood stains on it from under one of the seats of the Jeep Cherokee.

Law enforcement later received a tip linking Fadil to Lee’s death, and further investigation enabled detectives to learn that Lee had planned to meet with someone around 10 p.m. on the night of Dec. 21, 2024.

A review of cell tower records from that time frame suggested that phones belonging to both men pinged off towers near the Anna community.

“Cell data shows phones for Mr. Fadil and Mr. Lee hitting the same cell towers within seconds (of one another),” Jewell said while testifying at a 2025 preliminary hearing in Warren District Court.

Through search warrants, police established that phones belonging to Lee and Fadil pinged off the same cell towers within seconds of one another late on the night of Dec. 21, 2024, through a short time past midnight, stopping on Morgantown Road north of Bowling Green, Jewell said in court.

Fadil was arrested several days later on a count of murder, and a grand jury returned indictments against him and Khadim in March.