Egypt's New Cairo compound massacre victims not killed by their father: Relative
Ahram online , Tuesday 8 May 2018


The brother of anEgyptian businessman and contractor, who is suspected of murdering his family before committing suicide at the family home in the wealthy Cairo suburb ofRehab, has dismissed initial reports supporting this possibility, saying his brother and his family were killed by professional criminals.

Initial investigations by Egypt's New Cairo prosecution on Sunday said that the man, a company owner, had accumulated debts exceeding EGP2 million. Investigators said these debts may be related to the incident.

The 56-year-old father shot his 43-year-old wife, two sonsaged22and18,and his 20-year-old daughter, before killing himself with the same unlicensed weapon, according to initial investigations.

Records of late paymentson outstanding debts were found as security personnel conducted their investigations, the prosecution said.

Raafat Saad, the brother of the deceased businessman, phoned in Monday to anchor Ahmed Moussa's night-time TV program on Sada EL-Balad channel torefute reports that his brother committed suicide after the crime.

"The forensic report said my brother was shot by three bullets, which physically eliminates the possibility that he committed suicide after killing his family members," Saad said.

"The wife and children were shot each by two bullets in the head; this is a crime done by professionals and not a normal person," Saad said.

A final autopsy report of the father's body has not been released.

During the phone call, Saad admitted that his brother had faced financial problems lately, but said that talk of him killing his family and committing suicide were "exaggerating and impossible."

Initial investigations into the murders revealed that the house's doors were closed from the inside, which supports the possibility that the crime was committed by the father.

The reports also said that bullet shells matching the unlicensed gun were found near the father's body. However, earlier local media reported unverified news that the prosecution is investigating a number of suspects, raising the possibilty of criminal involvment in the case.

According to these unverified reports, the suspects under investigation include those who contacted the father before the killings, which are believed to have occurred on 30 April.

Security sources were quoted as saying that the prosecution is currently working on recovering the phone call records of the victims.

The initial crime report affirmed that nothing was stolen from the villa, which eliminates the possibility of theft as a motive.

The murders initiated debate on social media, raising questions about security measures in wealthy compounds such as Al-Rehab, which is owned by Egypt's influential developer Talaat Mostafa group.

Investigations are still ongoing, with a final report on the incident expected.

On Sunday, Hesham Abdel-Hamid, Head of Egypt's Forensic Department, told Al-Ahram Arabic website that autopsies of the wife and three children found two bullets shot into the heads of each victim.

Abdel-Hamid said that a final report on the father's body is still ongoing.

Suicides connected with financial problems are reported periodically in Egypt, and usually involve people from lower-income backgrounds; family killings as a result of such problems are relatively rare.

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