Robbery Cited As Motive in Family Slaying
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer
March 5, 2005, 9:29 AM EST
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The slaying of an Egyptian family that has caused tension between local Christians and Muslims was motivated by robbery, not religious fanaticism, authorities said.
Two men on parole for drug offenses -- one of them the Armanious family's upstairs tenant -- were charged with four counts of murder in the killings.
Many in New Jersey's Coptic Christian community had speculated that Hossam Armanious angered Muslims with opinions he posted in Internet chat rooms under the user name "I Love Jesus."
"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.
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 were found Jan. 14, bound and gagged with puncture wounds to their heads and necks.
In the days after the slayings, about $3,000 was withdrawn from Armanious' bank account using his ATM card, and investigators were able to get surveillance video from cameras over those cash machines, officials said.
Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above the family, and Hamilton Sanchez, 30, were arrested Thursday. They pleaded not guilty to murder charges and were ordered held on $10 million bail.
"I didn't kill nobody, man," Sanchez said as he was led from the courtroom.
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 murders spread fear throughout the region's Coptic Christian community and spurred tensions that erupted in scuffles and anti-Islam slogans being shouted during the family's funeral.
The arrests were welcomed by Christian and Muslim groups who said they were disturbed by the religious tension.
"Everybody is relieved that there is no religious implication behind it," said Maged Riad, a spokesman for the worldwide head of the Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda.
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