The FBI had investigated whether a Mililani man killed in an alleged dispute over a marijuana-growing operation was involved in terrorist activity, the lawyer for one of the accused killers said yesterday.

Joshua Williams, 25, and Michael Connolly, 24, are awaiting separate trials in state Circuit Court in the murder of 24-year-old Jamil Khan.

Khan left his parents’ Mililani home on April 7 and never returned. Police determined he was slain. His body has not been found.

As police conducted a missing-person investigation before concluding Khan had been killed, the FBI informed the Police Department that the agency was investigating whether Khan had ties to any terrorist organization or extremist activity, said John Schum, Williams’ lawyer, at a pretrial hearing yesterday.

The FBI would not say whether it did.

"We can’t discuss the existence of any investigation unless or until criminal charges are filed," FBI spokesman Tom Simon said.

Police interviewed Williams April 16 at the Kapolei police substation about Khan’s disappearance, police detective Kenneth Higa said. After that interview, two FBI special agents interviewed Williams at the Kapolei station, Higa said.

Police again interviewed Williams two days later at HPD headquarters downtown, this time regarding Khan’s death.

"Mr. Williams, in his statement to police, talks about Jamil Khan telling him all these things about wanting to be involved in terrorist activities, going on jihad and killing Americans," Schum said.

He said Williams also saw Khan viewing terrorist websites on his computer.

It was also during the April 18 interview that Williams told police he and Connolly killed Khan after Kahn pointed an AK-47 rifle at them at the Makakilo home where the three of them had an indoor marijuana growing operation, prosecutors earlier said. Williams said he and Connolly used a hacksaw to dismember Khan’s body, placed the pieces into bags and put the bags in the trash, prosecutors have said.

Authorities have recovered DNA evidence from blood splatter and the bathtub drain in the Makakilo home and from several pieces of clothing belonging to Williams, said Kristine Yoo, city deputy prosecutor.

Schum is asking the prosecution to turn over whatever evidence it recovered from a computer that Khan’s sister gave to police.

Yoo said she has given the defense all the material the FBI turned over to police. She said she does not recall seeing anything about a computer in the evidence police turned over to her. She said Khan’s father gave over four cell phones and marijuana that belonged to his son.

Williams is in custody with no opportunity for bail. Connolly is free on supervised release.