Alledged killers. Video here: http://www.wnbc.com/news/4252691/detail.html
Posted on 03/04/2005 2:14:06 PM PST by Selkie
By WAYNE PARRY The Associated Press
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The upstairs neighbor of an Egyptian Christian family found slain in their home in January was charged Friday, along with another man, in the murders.
Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above Hossam Armanious and his family, pleaded not guilty to four counts of felony murder. Hamilton Sanchez, 30, faces the same charges and also pleaded not guilty.
Sanchez during a court hearing began crying as he stood before a judge, his hands cuffed behind his back.
"I didn't kill nobody. I didn't kill nobody, man. I didn't kill nobody, people," Sanchez said, as he was led from the courtroom. McDonald stared at the floor during the hearing.
Both men, who were on parole for different drug offenses, were ordered held on $10 million cash bail.
Authorities said Armanious, 47; his wife, Amal Garas, 37, and their children - Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8 - were slain three days before their bodies were found Jan. 14.
(Excerpt) Read more at phillyburbs.com ...
PAX
Ping
I'm not believing this one.
Yep.
Maybe he's jus' tellin' da m'f***in' troof.
You'd be surprised what junkie ex-cons are willing to do to get drug money.
I just saw the killers on the local news.
Typical J.C. scary pondscum. Jersey City, particularly the Heights, is rife w/ thugs like that.
>>>>>
The Bergen County Record reports 25-year-old ex-convict Edward McDonald is one of the two people in custody. Investigators interrogated McDonald for much of the day yesterday and raided his apartment.
McDonald was released from federal prison in April 2004 and spent time in a halfway house before moving into the second-floor apartment of the Armanious' two-family home with his girlfriend, according to an unidentified cousin of McDonald cited by the paper. The couple was living there when the slayings occurred but moved out about a month ago.
"He didn't live there too long," the cousin said, according to The Record. The Armaniouses "asked them to move out. ... [Torres] told me she was surprised that she didn't hear anything during the murders."
I am just not believing this one.
Ping
Sorry, but this smacks of a 'round up the usual suspects' cover-up by the authorities.
I have it from a Copt who attends our Eastern Orthodox (Rum, that is, for folks in the know about Christianity in the Middle East) mission when he doesn't make the 2.5 hour trek to the nearest Coptic church, that the Coptic community in NJ know who the killers are. Evidently the Armanious family were instrumental in the conversion of an Egyptian woman from Islam to Christianity, and shortly after the murders all of her still-Muslim relatives returned to Egypt.
The lack of forced entry was because the killers convinced the Armanious's that they were interested in a Bible study, and were welcomed into the home.
But one of them was using the dead father's ATM card.
I don't buy it either.
OTOH, maybe, these are the two guys who did OJ's wife and Vince Foster.
really smell a rat here...
I want to believe it, I hope it's true. It would be a great relief to everyone to know that the murder of this family wasn't motivated by some evil cleric's fatwa against perceived enemies of islam.
However, and I guess you all knew this was coming, islam can't accuse anyone of bigotry as the result of speculation that the crime may have been 'religiously' motivated. Their numerous threats based upon the koranic requirement that all infidels should die or don't deserve to live, is what pointed the finger straight at them. Not us.
It's time for islam to do a little house-cleaning in the West and remove the clerics who preach 'death to the infidel' and stop telling their followers that everyone other than a muslim is a dirty kuffar.
Admittedly, having the ATM card certainly looks bad for them though. It'll be interesting to see if there's any kind of real forensic evidence linking them to the murders.
"They was dead when we got there; we just took their stuff!"
Yeah, like the weapon(s). How did they get the PIN, though? Weren't some of the victims tortured?
Look, the King family is convinced Martin Luther King was killed by a giant conspiracy going to the top of the US Government, not by a lone dumb redneck.
People from the Coptic community were shocked and horrified by this crime and they drew some comfort from the idea they were religious martyrs, which is still based on very thin evidence. It doesn't make them right.
However, and I guess you all knew this was coming, islam can't accuse anyone of bigotry as the result of speculation that the crime may have been 'religiously' motivated. Their numerous threats based upon the koranic requirement that all infidels should die or don't deserve to live, is what pointed the finger straight at them. Not us. >>>
It nauseates me no end that CAIR PAID for a press release announcing that the murders were deemed no relation to Islam.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-04-2005/0003119325&EDATE=
The 8 year old daughter was apparently tortured in order to elicit the passcode.
From the past: "Richard Jewell to get more than $500000 from NBC - January 3, 1997; FBI chief can't explain media leaks in Olympic bombing. . . . "
Literally just days before Richard Jewell was singled out I weighed the importance for the government of getting the bombing solved and stated confidently to anyone who would listen that the government would grab the first apparent "loner" off the street and charge him. Meanwhile it appears to me now that the government was chasing someone who disappeared into the wilderness. He was caught and charged months later. But the government needed someone immediately.
My instincts say the same today. These crimes are explosive.
Both men, who were on parole for different drug offenses. . . .
Already in trouble with the law they are going to rob the downstairs neighbors?! Did they use the ATM card? Perhaps. Perhaps they took stuff after the murders downstairs.
don't mistake me: I am under no illusions regarding whether criminals are stupid... they ARE.
but I am not buying this.
I'll need to see hard cold forensic evidence before i do.
I'll also need to see evidence completely exculpating their muslim opponents on the net.
The point is, they know the specific woman, that the Armanious's helped convert her, and they know her family fled the country. Could be coincidence, but I'd not bet on it.
Stealing from the dead sounds more like the MO of low-life drifters than an attempt to simulate a 'strike at the necks of the infidels' Islamic murder as a way to throw off suspicion.
"How did they get the PIN, though?"
The father's wallet was turned out, so he could have had it there, I'm sure lots of people do that, even though they tell you not to.
However, the reason there was so much money available to be stolen was because they were doing some kind of refinancing and all that money was in the checking account. It seems like MAYBE the tenant could have known about that. In any event these were not wealthy people, they probably didn't often have large amounts of money in their bank account, so to think the Islamofacists killed them, and the tenant just stumbles on the bodies, takes the ATM card (rather than calling the police to report the murders!) and lucks into tens of thousands of dollars, well, that seems a tad too complicated and co-incidental to me.
I'd also like to know the source of this quote:
"DeFazio said that during the robbery Monica Armanious had managed to loosen the bonds with which she was bound and gagged and recognized McDonald as the upstairs tenant. McDonald killed her out of fear of being identified and Sanchez killed the other three people..."
Was one of the suspects keeping a diary?
Drugs, torture, stolen ATM, use of stole ATM.... Maybe it was just a drug killing. It's not as "glamorous" as an Islamic hit but it has happened before.
Good point. Also, many, many people use their birthday as their PIN number, even though you shouldn't do that either (I know I do). I'm not sure if New Jersey driver's licenses show a person's Date of Birth, but my Virginia driver's license sure does!
Where does the report say that "one of them" was using the card??>.>
I just flipped thru 5 local news channels.
Apparently there is video of the alledged killers as they used the ATM card in a drive thru ATM.
Seems very damning.
This was apparently a robbery gone wrong.
They meant to rob, not kill the family.
The youngest daughter broke free at one point and saw one the killers, so then then proceeded to kill the whole family so they couldnt be identified.
Where does the report say that "one of them" was using the card??>.>
I just flipped thru 5 local news channels.
Apparently there is video of the alledged killers as they used the ATM card in a drive thru ATM.
Seems very damning.
This was apparently a robbery gone wrong.
They meant to rob, not kill the family.
The youngest daughter broke free at one point and saw one the killers, so then then proceeded to kill the whole family so they couldnt be identified.
Probably an inference from where the bodies lay, blood trails, etc.
As for the Muslim angle, it was certainly fed by his countrymen protesting that "Muslims" did it. Then the "neck wounds" were turned into some kind of Jihadist beheadings but it wasn't that - just stabs like other places in their bodies. I thought from the beginning this was drug fueled. Certainly the case isn't closed.
I am not buying the story either. Not yet. I did not buy the Jewell story either. Never.
"I'll also need to see evidence completely exculpating their muslim opponents."
Me too.
The evening news says that Sanchez was equipped with a 9mm.....
Why not just shoot them excution style instead of the bloody work of stabbing ?
takes the ATM card (rather than calling the police to report the murders!) >>>
Yeah but he was an ex-con and a former tenant, so he would not call the cops because he'd know he'd be the first suspect. (which he was)
Noise.
Robert Spencer will just invent some new "Muslim outrage" to post on Jihadwatch for his sheep.
That's what keeps them happy and buying books.
Jewell was never arrested or charged with anything, hence not that great of a parallel.
Their wrists were also stabbed, so that disturbed many in the Coptic community.
Silencer ?
You forget that the Koranic injunction is 'strike at the necks of the infidels' not 'behead the infidels'. Theo vanGogh's murderer slit his throat, then stabbed him without bothering to try beheading him.
Is there a special significance to the wrists?
Alledged killers. Video here: http://www.wnbc.com/news/4252691/detail.html
Because two of the family members had cross tats on their wrists.
I dont know for certain if there is also a muslim ritualistic killing significance or not.
http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_063073525.html
(1010 WINS) (JERSEY CITY) The upstairs neighbor of an Egyptian Christian family found slain in their home in January was charged Friday, along with another man, in the murders.
Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above Hossam Armanious and his family, pleaded not guilty to four counts of felony murder. Hamilton Sanchez, 30, faces the same charges and also pleaded not guilty.
Sanchez during a court hearing began crying as he stood before a judge, his hands cuffed behind his back.
"I didn't kill nobody. I didn't kill nobody, man. I didn't kill nobody, people," Sanchez said, as he was led from the courtroom. McDonald stared at the floor during the hearing.
Both men, who were on parole for different drug offenses, were ordered held on $10 million cash bail.
Authorities said Armanious, 47; his wife, Amal Garas, 37, and their children -- Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8 -- were slain three days before their bodies were found Jan. 14.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said the killings took place in the course of a robbery by the two men, who owed a large sum of money to a person whom DeFazio would not identify.
Police went to the Armanious home after relatives were unable to contact the family for several days. All four victims were found bound and gagged with puncture wounds to their throats.
DeFazio said that during the robbery Monica Armanious had managed to loosen the bonds with which she was bound and gagged and recognized McDonald as the upstairs tenant. McDonald killed her out of fear of being identified and Sanchez killed the other three people, DeFazio said.
McDonald was taken into custody Thursday and charged later that night. Sanchez was arrested Thursday night and charged Friday.
Developments in the slayings had intensified in recent days as authorities revealed that thousands of dollars had been withdrawn from Armanious' bank account using his ATM card in the days after the slayings.
McDonald's aunt, who would only identify herself by her first name, Marie, told The Star-Ledger of Newark that he was not involved in the slayings.
"He's innocent," she said in Friday's newspapers. "He's not that kind of person."
The slayings created tension between Christians and Muslims here and in northern New Jersey. The Armaniouses were Coptic Christians, and Hossam Armanious frequented Internet chat rooms, posting opinions under the user name "I Love Jesus."
Friends of the family speculated that he might have angered Muslims with those online posts, and many Coptics in New Jersey and elsewhere blamed Islamic extremists for the killings.
"I'd like to make one thing perfectly clear: The motive for these murders was robbery. This was a crime based on greed, the desperate need of money," DeFazio said.
I can tell you this, if they had been beheaded, which the world became familiar with Iraqi jihadi videos, yeah, I might have figured it religious. But murderers stabbing necks is nothing unique in American crime.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.