7 hours Ago By Michelle Mullins
After being arrested in connection with 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi’s fatal stabbing, Joseph Czuba said he had been afraid of the boy and his mother and likened them to “infested rats,” according to a video shown at the Plainfield man’s murder trial Thursday. Will County Sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Jones told jurors that he drove Czuba to the station for booking after the landlord had been treated for injuries at a local hospital.
The roughly 35-minute ride was recorded by a police vehicle camera and showed Czuba hunched over in the rear seat and, at times, mumbling to himself about the war between Hamas and Israel. “I can’t believe all these protests, people supporting the PLO,” Czuba said, presumably referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization. “It’s so evil.
” Six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi was stabbed to death at his home on Oct. 14, 2023. (Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations) A week before Wadee’s slaying, the Hamas-led attack on Israel ignited the Gaza War.
Infuriated by the Oct 7, 2023 ambush, prosecutors say, Czuba directed his anger and his bigotry at the kindergartener and his mother, Hanan Shaheen, who are Muslims of Palestinian descent. Czuba, 73, is accused of killing Wadee and seriously injuring Shaheen because of their ethnic and religious backgrounds. Currently on trial in Will County , Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime.
If convicted, he could face life in prison without parole. Closing arguments are expected Friday morning after three days of testimony and evidence. At the time of Wadee’s death on Oct.
14, 2023, Shaheen had been renting two rooms from Czuba and his wife in their unincorporated Plainfield home for about two years. They were ideal tenants, did not cause any problems or have any guests, said Mary Connor, who divorced Czuba in 2024 and testified against him earlier this week. Several witnesses have told the jury that Czuba asked Shaheen to move out of the house after the Oct.
7 attacks. Czuba said as much alound on his way to jail, according to the police vehicle recording. “I begged her to get out for three days,” Czuba says during the car ride.
“She would not leave.” Later, Czuba said that he was afraid for his life, as well as his wife’s. He said he was concerned Shaheen was a “trained fighter.
” “They are just like infested rats,” Czuba says on the recording. The defense had tried to have the vehicle recording barred from trial, but the judge allowed it. In other testimony Thursday, a forensic pathologist told jurors that the injuries on Wadee’s hands indicated that the boy likely tried to shield himself from his attacker.
Dr. Valerie Arangelovich, a forensic pathologist for the Will County coroner’s office, told a jury that some of the 26 lacerations Wadee sustained during the Oct. 14, 2023 attack were consistent with defensive wounds, suggesting the child put up his hands to protect himself.
Arangelovich, who performed the autopsy on Wadee, outlined for the jury each of the 26 stab wounds, noting their size and areas of his body that were damaged. Some of the wounds were superficial. Others were caused when the knife was being removed during the attack, Arangelovich said.
The knife damaged soft tissue, muscles, the upper and lower lobes of his right lungs, the right lobe of his liver, his diaphragm, the ribs, the thymus gland and the heart itself, Arangelovich said. Seven stab wounds on the left forearm along with those on Wadee’s right hand were consistent with self defense and could be considered defensive wounds, Arangelovich said, She said they indicate the kindergartner was likely putting his hand up to protect his vital organs or torso. “It’s a protective mechanism the victim is trying to incorporate in this struggle,” she said Wadee had wounds and bruises over much of his body, including his face, chin, neck, chest, abdomen, hand, arms, shins, thighs and ankle.
Blood was present in the boy’s chest cavity, Arangelovich said. The boy was 62 pounds and less than 4 feet tall. After the prosecution rested its case Thursday, Czuba informed the judge that he would not testify on own behalf.
His defense called two Will County Sheriff’s detectives, whose testimonies were intended to poke holes in Shaheen’s version of events. Czuba attorney George Lenard asked whether Shaheen had mentioned certain details about the attack to them, including her recollection that Czuba tried to break down the door as she called 911 and that Czuba allegedly told Wadee he would raise him as his own if he didn’t tell people he killed the boy’s mom. Both detectives testified that she did not share those details during their conversations.
The detectives were the only witnesses the defense called before resting its case. Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter..
