Posted on 01/16/2005 5:22:26 AM PST by dead
Islamic extremists may have murdered four members of a Coptic Orthodox family found bound, gagged and with their throats slit on Friday in their Jersey City home, a law-enforcement official familiar with the case said.
The official confirmed that Hudson County investigators, as well the FBI, were "knee-deep" in pulling computer records and were coming to terms with the possibility that the family may have been targeted for death because of exchanges about religion in an Internet chat room.
The official cautioned, though, that investigators have not ruled out other possibilities, such as a robbery gone awry.
Hossam Armanious, 47, Amal Garas, 37, and their daughters Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were found dead in their Oakland Avenue home early Friday after family members alerted police that nobody had heard from them in days.
First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory declined to discuss any details of the case, other than to confirm that police have ruled out a dispute the family had with a former tenant as a possible motive. He cautioned against speculating about the motive behind the murders.
"This is a very delicate investigation and one where we have spent hours at the scene collecting evidence and with the evidence collection complete, we're moving to bring in people that we feel need to be interviewed," Gregory said. "It's unfortunate that people are speculating."
But as the theory spread that revenge and religion were the driving forces behind one of the most heinous murders in the county's long history, fear enveloped the city's Coptic community.
Friends, relatives and co-worshippers of the devout family spent much of Saturday wondering how the seemingly upstanding Armanious family could fall victim to such a shockingly brutal crime. Several spoke of Hossam Armanious' participation in heated discussions about the Islamic faith on the Paltalk.com messenger service and threats he received for expressing his views about the religion.
Milad Garas, an uncle of Amal Garas, said Saturday that he was told investigators are probing whether the killings could have been prompted in part by the chat sessions. He also pointed to a passage in the Muslim holy book, the Quran, that details how enemies should be killed - bound and their throats slit, an assertion that drew a rebuttal from some Islamic scholars, but was supported by others.
A translation of passage 47:4 of the Quran reads in part: "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers [in fight], smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly [on them]."
"There is a very wide range of interpretation of that, and it depends on where people are in the spectrum," said Frederick M. Denny, a professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado and author of more than a dozen books on Islam. "If they were going toward the extremist side, it could lead someone to believe it is justified. ... There are those that take that [passage] quite literally."
The close-knit Coptic community promised protests if the religious revenge theory proves accurate.
"If it turns out they were killed for religion, then we will [protest]," said Ayman Garas, Amal's younger brother. "We have to be patient, we can't do anything stupid. ... But it looks like it is religion, maybe."
The Armanious family moved to the United States from Egypt in part to escape religious persecution. Hossam Armanious had sensed a rise in anti-Christian extremism and wanted to make a better life for his family in America, Ayman Garas said.
"What I really want to know is: How?'' he said. "We just can't believe it at this point. Everything has passed like a dream."
The details of what may have been said in the chat sessions were not known Saturday night.
Fred Ayad, deacon of the couple's St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, said that the entire community was in a "panic" over the apparent targeting of the family, as well as the murders of a Coptic deacon in December and a Coptic cabdriver in late 2003.
Prosecutor Gregory said the conjecture about the murders is hampering his office's investigation, which he said has been exhaustive.
Copts are Egyptian Christians, a minority group of about 6 million in a nation of 60 million, and have been killed in religious rioting and during attacks on Christian churches by Islamic militants. Coptic leaders also say they lack representation in the Egyptian government and are treated like second-class citizens.
Over the past decade, Copts have increasingly immigrated to the United States. Currently, they number about 1 million in this country. Coptic Orthodox churches are scattered throughout the nation and, while there is no official count, Coptic Web sites list about 10 large congregations in New Jersey and about 20 in the tri-state area.
Islamic leaders said Saturday that the murders could not have been the work of someone inspired by the Quran.
"We are not a bloody people," said Ahmed Shedeed, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. "This is not from the Quran. This is not from Islam at all."
Shedeed, who is Egyptian, said his group recently co-founded a social service organization with local Coptic churches, called Egyptian Family.
"We are trying to get religious leaders from both communities to meet on a monthly basis to break the ice between the people," he said. "We meet as individuals, but as organizations we never have done such a thing. We are trying to show that Egyptians together can benefit."
Shedeed said that as part of that effort, he attended Christmas Eve services at St. George's this year.
Asked about passages in the Quran that may suggest murdering non-believers in a manner that resembles the family's deaths, he replied, "The Quran talks about people fighting in the battle of war. It's not talking about people who live next to you. ... This has nothing to do with our community at all."
"The Quran stands very firmly against taking human life," said noted Islamic author Zayn Kassam, chairwoman of the religious studies department of Pomona College in California. "If someone read a verse and used it to justify the killing of four people, I believe that person is unbalanced. ... There are very few Muslims who would support this sort of thing."
On Saturday, the family received mourners at the church, as friends left lighted candles and flowers in front of the home. Neighbors talked of an exhaustive police investigation, with a former Armanious tenant, Nelly Ramirez, saying police had questioned her, her son and her son's girlfriend.
Meanwhile, friends of Sylvia, a high school sophomore who would have turned 16 on Saturday, lingered in front of the house, alternately crying and laughing. They talked of an extremely gifted teen who recently won a trip to Italy from the National Honor Society for a series of essays she wrote on topics such as Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
"She used to write all the time," said her friend Jankil Patel, 15. "She used to go to church all the time. ... She'd debate people in class and even had a religious tattoo on her [right wrist]."
"She had a lot of friends; she was very popular," said Jessica Cimino, 15, another friend. Cimino and the other girls said they plan to attend the family funeral on Monday and wear T-shirts bearing Sylvia's image to school on Tuesday.
Ayman and Milad Garad and other family members were allowed into the crime scene for the first time on Saturday morning to gather the needed paperwork for the cemetery. They left the home with a briefcase and several other items, including a tank with several small turtles inside.
Staff Writer Kathleen Carroll contributed to this story. E-mail: troncone@northjersey.com
Transaltion: "We're freaking wimps in heavily muslim Jersey and scared to death of CAIR."
I liked it. He is spot on.Yep. Steyn and that letter.
Do they really exist in that great of numbers?
My husband works for an engineering firm that specializes in avionic and satellite software. A large percentage of the engineers are here on special visa's, are Muslim and come from places such as Iran, Lebanon, etc.
These are guys that can make anywhere from 100k to 400k a year, especially the salesmen.
They make no bones about how they feel about this country despite how good this country is to them.
BLOAT!
I'm praying that this is a heinous crime by some psychopath and not what seems more likely...radical Islamism making its presence known in NJ.
I know a few JC police. They will build a case and go with it with everything they have. They just have to be careful how they talk about it. The city govt has to worry about more than CAIR, they have a sizable moslem population as well.
as the old song said:
"Nowhere to run to,
nowhere to hide..."
At least that's the story for the Coptics and other Christians of the Middle East...
FOX is now reporting on this and said it may be viewed as a hate crime. I'm glad it's getting national exposure and potentially being looked at that way (it should be). Didn't get it all as I was typing but they mentioned something about a cleric - Omar Abdle Rammanen(sp- was convicted of something and is now serving life.
Screw that crap. They wouldn't be handling a run of the mill sicko with kid gloves. Time to take of the gloves and slap them down where they need to be.
This PC shi* gotta end. If we are to survive as a nation we cannot afford to show mercy. That's just my opinion. But, it's my opinion. Give no quarters.
We deny communists the right to immigrate into America, because of the threat they are to our way of life. American politicans need to wake up to a far greater threat...Muslims.
"tolerant muslims"? You're kidding, right?
Go here: http://www.ci-ce-ct.com/Feature%20articles/02-12-2002.asp
Struck me that way. If I misinterpreted, my apologies.
If there are one or two out there....they sure as hell aren't making themselves know.
We get the occasional one to come on tv from time to time and say what a great religion of peace it is....yeah, right.
Only new thing on latest FoxNews update on this story was to point out that Jersey City is where the blind cleric was from.
The police I don't worry about very much, it's prosecutors and the FBI who've consistently bent over in support of muslim terrorists.
The FBI STILL has prominent arab muslim terror group CAIR teach them "sensitivity" to islam and muslims.
It is sickening to hear your account of why the city government has to tread lightly. Not unexpected, but sickening.
Damn the muslims and damn their supporters.
The people won't take this s*** forever.
CAPE COLRAL MAN SENTENCED TO 65 YEARS FOR VIOLENT ATTACK ON WOMAN
By KRISTEN ZAMBO
December 18, 2004
A former East Naples music store owner may spend the rest of his life behind bars for sexually mutilating a woman he thought was a government spy who was having illicit affairs.
Dahish A. Rashid, 57, of Cape Coral, was sentenced Friday to 65 years in prison for the Jan. 8, 2002, attack on the Lee County woman.
He was convicted in October of mutilating her genitals with a utility knife, slicing off her right nipple and areola and cutting out a hunk of her tongue as punishment for these suspected affairs.
Rashid's lawyer, Christopher Haddad, said he suffers from mental illnesses; although doctors differ on which mental illnesses afflict him and Rashid didn't understand the crime he was committing when he drove her to an isolated area, handcuffed her, taped bags over the van's windows and started slicing.
"I think that (the sentence) reflects the severity of what he did"; Assistant State Attorney Betsy Biffl said outside of the courtroom.
Senior Judge Jack Schoonover sentenced Rashid to 30 years, 20 years and 15 years, to run consecutively, on charges of kidnapping while possessing a firearm, sexual battery with a deadly weapon or great force and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Haddad wanted a much lighter sentence, followed by mental health therapy. "We're disappointed in the sentence," stated Haddad outside the courtroom. He said he planned to appeal both the verdict and sentence. He declined further comment. Rashid's family also declined comment.
The victim, whose name is not being released because of the nature of the crime, did not attend the hearing. Biffl said the woman still lives out of state, where she has been hiding since the attack.
"She was comfortable leaving it to the court," Biffl said. "She came here and she said everything she had to say at the trial."
According to Florida sentencing laws, Rashid must spend the first 10 years in prison and 85 percent of the remaining 55 years, or 46 years and nine months, behind bars.
"I really apologize for what I did," Rashid told Schoonover before sentencing in the first public comments he's made since being charged. "I am sorry for the devastation for my family and for me and for (the woman). I will take my medication." Biffl noted that Rashid's appeal for mercy by apologizing came much too late. "He has to say whatever he can to get the court to go below the (sentencing) guidelines,"Biffl said. "This was a planned incident. With her by his side, he stopped and bought the duct tape and razor blades."
During the four-day trial, jurors heard that Rashid and the woman left that day in his GMC Savana van under the guise of going house hunting in Naples. After eating at a local doughnut shop, they went to a Home Depot, where Rashid bought the duct tape, utility blades and cleaning supplies. He drove her to a rest stop at Daniels Parkway and Interstate 75 and asked her to have sex with him in the back of the van. Instead, he taped bags over the windows, handcuffed her, drove to a more isolated area somewhere between Naples and south Fort Myers and attacked her.
During the trial, the woman testified that he forced her at gunpoint to stick out her tongue so he could cut part of it out. "Had this man not been suffering from this mental illness ... this awful matter would not have happened," Haddad said.
Rashid's daughter, Rashida Ahmad, testified at the sentencing hearing that her father needs medication and mental health treatment, not a lengthy prison stint. She said she and her siblings were used to her father's abnormal behavior, such as thinking the government was spying on him and trees were watching him. She said he sometimes still talks about conspiracies, but he's much calmer now on medication.
"It's very sad because of the effect on the family," Ahmad said of the crime. "I don't like to talk about it. He said he was sorry."
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