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Robbery, not religion, behind family's killing
AP ^ | 3/5/5 | WAYNE PARRY

Posted on 03/05/2005 12:17:35 AM PST by SmithL

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The upstairs tenant of an Egyptian Christian family found slain in their home in January and another man have been charged in the killings, and authorities said Friday the motive was robbery, not religious fanaticism.

Two men already on parole for drug offenses pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder in the Jan. 11 killing of the Armanious family, which had caused tension between Christians and Muslims in New Jersey.

Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above the Armanious family, and Hamilton Sanchez, 30, were ordered held on $10 million bail.

"I didn't kill nobody, man," Sanchez said as he was led from the courtroom. McDonald, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and black pants, stared at the floor during the hearing.

Authorities said Hossam Armanious, 47, his wife, Amal Garas, 37, and their children, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were slain three days before their bodies, bound and gagged with puncture wounds to their heads and necks, were found Jan. 14.

In the days after the slayings, about $3,000 was withdrawn from Armanious' bank account using his ATM card, and investigators were able to get surveillance video from cameras over those cash machines, officials said.

Both men were arrested Thursday.

"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," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

DeFazio said officials believe a planned robbery spiraled out of control when the 8-year-old loosened her bonds and recognized McDonald. He is accused of killing her to avoid identification, and Sanchez is accused of killing the three others, DeFazio said.

The slaying had caused speculation that Hossam Armanious might have angered Muslims with opinions he posted in Internet chat rooms under the user name "I Love Jesus." The arrests were welcomed by Christian and Muslim groups who said they were disturbed by the religious tension.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: armanious; copts; coverup; framed; robbery; scapegoat; trop; whitewash
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To: Arpege92

Nope, Im taking the looowwww rode cause those tards deserve to have their noses rubbed in it like a bad puppy who just tinkled on daddys new carpet


21 posted on 03/05/2005 8:41:11 AM PST by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: Jabba the Nutt; Arpege92
Yayyy! I get to rip your baseless paranoid accusations to shreds!!!

1. Early reports stated that Hossam Armanious regularly engaged Muslims in discussion on the PalTalk website -- discussions that became so heated that one Muslim threatened him: "You'd better stop this bull---- or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you."

Yes because we should always believe threats from nameless/faceless people on chat rooms, why just the other day I wa talking to a horned up, lonely, 29 yr old house wife who was also a porn star. GIMMIE A BREAK! Have you NEVER been in a chat room before?

2. If the motive was robbery, why was the family killed? Presumably to prevent them from identifying McDonald and Sanchez.

Christ, then I guess there must be something shady about all the COUNTLESS OTHER robberys that turn to murder? Maybe its cause the people were on PAROLE and DIDNT WANT...(*GASP...get ready Im gonna blow your mind!) DIDNT WANT TO GO TO PRISON AGAIN!!!!!

3. If the motive was robbery and the family presumably surprised McDonald and Sanchez by being at home, leading the pair to murder them, why were the murders done with such precision?

What are you basing this on? Please give me a CREDIBLE LINK to the source by the cops...oh wait...the cops are in on this conspiracy too

4. Not long after the murders, I was contacted by a Coptic Christian who identified himself as a close friend of the Garas family (Hossam Armanious's wife's family). He claimed to have detailed information

Geezzz, You'll beleive just about anything wont you.

5. If the motive was simple robbery, what are we to believe about all this?

That it was a friggin ROBERY...by junkies who were on parole...how is that so hard to believe? When these people confess are you going to post a long rambling post (like your previous one) but instead this time admit that your paranoid delusions were wrong?

Ill give you credit, although you are CLEARLY WRONG, atleast you had the guts to reply, look at all the others who were false and having a knee jerk reaction and blaming it on muslims, where are the replies now? Where are the posts about how we should round up all muslims and deport them? Where are all the insane psots about we should nuke mecca?

22 posted on 03/05/2005 8:52:33 AM PST by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: sheik yerbouty

How do the authorities know what a dead woman saw just before she died? Turned MacDonald? A note written in blood?


23 posted on 03/05/2005 8:55:02 AM PST by bvw (Team USA!)
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans

Does bolding help you shred, you think? In any case it didn't. Not one counter you attempted worked.


24 posted on 03/05/2005 8:58:31 AM PST by bvw (Team USA!)
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To: bvw
Does bolding help you shred, you think? In any case it didn't. Not one counter you attempted worked.

1. Had to bold one because if not it would have all blended in together

2. Its hard to argue with someone when they are delusional and are overcome with paranoia. Ever tried to have a conversation who believes hat we didn’t REALLY land on the moon?

25 posted on 03/05/2005 9:07:07 AM PST by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans
The answer to 2 is yes.

The answer to 1 is okay, fine. You still didn't achieve what you had claimed at the start of that rejoinder that you were about to do -- to demolish and shred. Not even dinted.

26 posted on 03/05/2005 10:33:52 AM PST by bvw (Team USA!)
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To: bvw

I think it's speculation.


27 posted on 03/05/2005 11:04:16 AM PST by sheik yerbouty
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To: bvw

28 posted on 03/05/2005 11:42:23 AM PST by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans

I'll remember that for when you are wrong about one thing or another.


29 posted on 03/05/2005 11:50:19 AM PST by Arpege92 (Mr. Kerry, you are a jerk!" - Pat Sajak)
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans

I can't think but that the likelyhood od a Patsy Cline moment for the prosecuter when this goes to trial is huge.


30 posted on 03/05/2005 1:02:22 PM PST by bvw (Team USA!)
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To: NYer

Pretty hard to buy, isn't it?


31 posted on 03/05/2005 4:04:53 PM PST by MarMema ("America may have won the battles, but the Nazis won the war." Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall)
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans
"Its hard to argue with someone when they are delusional and are overcome with paranoia. "


Robert Spencer makes his living selling those very people his books.

He's the bigots' Stephen King. The more he scares them the more they love it.

32 posted on 03/05/2005 4:19:45 PM PST by mrsmith
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To: MarMema
Pretty hard to buy, isn't it?

Yeah ... like a $3 bill.

33 posted on 03/05/2005 4:23:19 PM PST by NYer ("The Eastern Churches are the Treasures of the Catholic Church" - Pope John XXIII)
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To: SmithL
Well of COURSE it wasn't Muslims. After all, the victims still had their heads, and it wasn't on a video tape on the web somewhere, bragging about how Allah told them this was what they had to do! /sarcasm off

We'll wait and see on this one, Muslim-defenders-be-damned. This seems a tad too convenient, in a "oh hey, what you all were thinking wasn't true, it was just a robbery gone wrong" kind of way. And, lest we all forget, the "robbers" are innocent until proven guilty, right? Right?

34 posted on 03/05/2005 9:53:14 PM PST by Jokelahoma (Animal testing is a bad idea. They get all nervous and give wrong answers.)
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To: SmithL

Robbery, not religion, behind family's killing

Wow, is this supposed to convince me? Well it hasn't. Killing these people viciously for a bank card? Give me a break. I'll bet if the real research was done the authorities would find a connection to them being hired killers. However, don't expect their investigation to go any further. Wouldn't want to upset the Muslims, I mean masses.


35 posted on 03/05/2005 9:53:33 PM PST by taxesareforever
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To: cricket

We are living in a civilized country and its a shame to see Americans start posting hateful posts towards other's religion because some coptic egyptians took to the streets of Jersey City like uncivilized savages & blaming Muslims before any suspects were arrested. Then they come to web sites spewing their hate. Now that everyone knows the truth & that Muslims where not responsible for the killings of that coptic arab family. Hopefully we can all learn a lesson not to jump to conclusions until all the facts are straight. And to all the uncivilized coptic arabs posting hate on this site--> shame on you for bringing your 3rd world uncivilized hate tactics to America!! Remember you're in America---> leave the hate behind--> and the justice system is great here (DNA evidence, etc..) Happy postings, Jake :)


36 posted on 03/05/2005 9:59:32 PM PST by jake777
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To: Jabba the Nutt

We are living in a civilized country and its a shame to see Americans start posting hateful posts towards other's religion because some coptic egyptians took to the streets of Jersey City like uncivilized savages & blaming Muslims before any suspects were arrested. Then they come to web sites spewing their hate. Now that everyone knows the truth & that Muslims where not responsible for the killings of that coptic arab family. Hopefully we can all learn a lesson not to jump to conclusions until all the facts are straight. And to all the uncivilized coptic arabs posting hate on this site--> shame on you for bringing your 3rd world uncivilized hate tactics to America!! Remember you're in America---> leave the hate behind--> and the justice system is great here (DNA evidence, etc..) Happy postings, Jake :)


37 posted on 03/05/2005 10:00:19 PM PST by jake777
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To: ETERNAL WARMING
I'm not buying this. Robbers aren't in the habit of slitting throats. That's the Muslim form of taking care of the infidels.

Right. It's all a pro-Muslim/terrorist conspiracy by the Bush administration.

38 posted on 03/05/2005 10:03:57 PM PST by Jorge
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans

GREAT POST!!


39 posted on 03/05/2005 10:04:09 PM PST by jake777
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To: jake777

More info here:


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1356246/posts
Neighbor, other man charged in slaying of Jersey City family
PhillyBurbs ^
Posted on 03/04/2005 5:14:06 PM EST by Selkie

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1356768/posts
Arrests Fail to Mend Muslim-Christian Rift
NYTimes ^
Posted on 03/05/2005 3:54:50 PM EST by Selkie



40 posted on 03/05/2005 10:04:52 PM PST by Selkie
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