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
Severed Head Found Near Movie Theater
Severed Head Found Near Movie Theater
By Eyewitness News' Ken Rosato
(Hazlet, N.J.-WABC, January 16, 2005) — A gruesome discovery in New Jersey, as a severed head and body are found near a movie theater in Monmouth County.
Eyewitness News reporter Ken Rosato is live at the scene in Hazlet, with more on this murder mystery.
The police found a head in the woods in the wooded area behind a movie theater, on a busy movie night when hundreds of cars packed the parking lot.
It was about 10:00 p.m. last night, when the discovery of the severed head was made.
Police say a severed head was discovered at this multiplex theater, located on Route 35 in Hazlet, New Jersey.
Police began to investigate, and shortly thereafter, found a headless body in the wooded area adjacent to the parking lot.
The victim appears to be white. But no word yet if the body was male or female.
A gray SUV or minivan at the scene was of particular interest to the investigators, but no word as to whether it might have belonged to the victim.
No arrests have been made, and police are continuing their investigation.
Sharper visions.
Thank you SO much!
Buddy, at this point and in light of what happened with that Coptic family, this has terror murder written all over it.
very strange, that area is not some kind of "high crime" locale.
I had Fox News on all day and they never said one word about this. Tell me they aren't keeping things under a rug?!
They proclaim that parts of the Koran are not the will of God?
Followed this thread throughout the day. Seems the Islamists are taking advantage of PC as it exists in the US and have attacked a Coptic Orthodox family. Attacked those who knew of the evil in the Islamist heart.
The police are restrained by political correctness as well as by evidenciary procedures. That the victims were Egyptian Coptics may relegate the investigation to low level ghetto crime.
Tell you the truth, Tex, we're headed for vigilantism again. The NJ cops better push this case to the top or reap the whirlwind.
Bookmarking for later reference
FYI
Fox is trying to keep from being sued by CAIR. Plain and simple. They are waiting until is is 100% confirmed it was a Muslim hate crime.
If provoked I will protect my family to the point of a mooslems death but being a Christian I can not kill a mooselom because they are a mooselom.
Is that what it is? Well, I can't blame Fox for that.
Coincidence thats all just a coincidence < /sarcasm>
Does this news of a body with severed head have a separate thread somewhere?
Yes, we are, and when it starts it will be a blood bath.
The American people are sick to death of these beheadings and throat cuttings of innocent people.
The muzzies have no idea what they will reap if they wake up this sleeping giant.
I just told the misses the Same thing if those lovers of mohommad try here what they did in Chechnia there wont be one of those rock worshipers left to own a motel or gas station in the states.
We wont let that one pass.
RB
I agree. Mylroie's book was very persuasive.
Oh yes, definitely.
Thanks - oh yes, I remember that slimeball and his witch, traitor attorney.
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