II
THE CRIME
Friday 25th of Zul-Hijjah,
1255 H (28th of February 1840).
The Meeting of the Investigation Committee Participants:
Liwa Sadiq Bey, Commander of Cavalry Artillery
French Consul to
Assistant to the French Consul, Mr. Beaudin
Mr. Massari Hakeem, Governor of
Due to the denial of the accused men, who were
jailed and separated from each other, as of now, and the fact that they are all
holding firm to their statements "that they knew nothing regarding the
disappearance of Father Thomas, and due to the increasing doubt about the role
of the barber, Soliman Saloom,
it is necessary to bring him back to stand before the Investigation Committee.
When he was brought before the investigators again he was bombarded with fast
and repeated questions. At the same time he was promised protection if he
confessed to the whole truth. So he confessed as follows:
David Harari, and his
servant Murad Al-Fattal, left from my shop to his
house about half an hour alter sunset. When I entered the house I found
therein Aaron Harari, Isaac Harari, Joseph Lifyado,
Rabbi Moussa Abou Al-Afieh,
and Rabbi Moussa Bokhoor Yehuda (Salaniki), and Father
Thomas who was bound. Then David Harari and his brother Aaron said to me,
"go and slay Father Thomas." I said to them,
"I cannot do that." They said, "wait."
Then they got up and brought a knife.
I threw him (Father Thomas) down on the ground and held him down with the help
of the others, and placed his neck on the edge of a large wash basin. David
took the knife and slew him. Aaron completed the slaying afterward. They
drained his blood and were careful not to spill one drop outside the dishpan.
We then pulled him from the room in which he was slain to another room
containing some wood. We took off his clothes and burned them. Murad Al-Fattal, the servant of David Harari came and found
Father Thomas, in the room with wood, slain and naked. The seven men then
requested me with the help of the servant Murad to
cut the body into small pieces. We asked them, "what
are we to do with it?" They replied, "throw
him in the
Q: What did you do with the bones?
A: We placed the bones on the tiles
and smashed them with the mortar's handle.
Q: What did you do with the head?
A: We smashed it the same way.
Q: Did they pay you some money?
A: I
mentioned to you that they promised their servant marriage expenses, and
promised me money. They also threatened that they would accuse us of the murder
if we told of their secret.
Q: What
kind of sack did you use to move the cut pieces of body? Did you use one or
more sacks? Did you carry the sack by yourself or did you and the servant take
turns in carrying them? What color were the sacks?
A: The sacks were made of jute.
They were of a bluish color. Only one sack was used. The servant and
I carried it together.
Q: How did you cooperate with the
servant in carrying it?
A: We carried
it together. Sometimes I carried it by myself. At other times the servant
carried it by himself.
Q: Where did you put the sack
after you finished your work?
A: We left it in David Harari's house.
Q: It
appears from your statements that when you slew Father Thomas you put his blood
in the wash basin, and no single drop of blood fell outside the basin. But
after you pulled the body to the other room, and cut it to pieces, still no
blood was spilled?
A: In fact I did not pay attention
if blood came from the body or if it did not.
Q: What was the floor of the room
like, where you cut up the body? Was it made of dirt or tiles?
A: The room was unfinished one
full of dirt and wood. The cutting of the body was done on dirt.
Q: What did
you do with his internal organs? How did you carry them? Did you cut them up?
What did you do with them?
A: We cut
them all and put them in the sack which we threw its contents in the salty
(Black) River.
Q: Did any of the parts drop or
leak out of the sack?
A: When a
coffee sack gets wet with water it becomes thick; this prevents anything from
leaking out of it.
Q: How many of you participated in
the cutting, and how many knives did you use, and what kind?
A: The
seven men directed us to the way of the cutting. But the servant and I did the
work alternately. When one got tired the other would take over. The knife we
used was of the kind used by butchers. The same was used in the slaying.
Q: What did you do with it after
the completion of the work?
A: We left it in David Harari's house.
Q: Where are the tiles that were
used for the breaking of the bones located?
A: They are located between the
two rooms, it is a covered walkway.
Q: How long did the slaying take? Was
the servant present or not? If he was not present what time did he come? Who
opened the door for him?
A: The
servant was not present during the slaying. He came after the removal of the
body to the second room, and after the clothing had been stripped from the
body. Someone opened the door for him.
Q: Were
there any women or children in the house? Was anyone other than the seven men
present in the house?
A: There was no one other than the
seven men, the servant, and myself present.
Q: At exactly
what time did the slaying take place? How long did you wait for the blood flow
to cease? At what time did you move the body to the other room? At what time
did the servant come? How long did it take for the whole task? Where did you
put the blood after you finished your task?
A: The
operation started about two hours past sunset or a little later. Since the room
floor level was about one step higher than the rest of the house, the neck of
the Priest was placed at the top of the step, a wash basin was placed on the
floor (under the head), it took about half an hour, perhaps two thirds of an
hour, for the blood to stop. Then we transferred the body to the second room
about an hour and a half after Isha. When the servant
arrived the body was naked. When we finished with the operation it was about
Q: Where did the removal of the
clothes from the body take place? Who performed the task?
A: The
removal of the clothes from the body took place in the same room where the body
itself was cut to pieces. David and Aaron removed the clothes in the presence
of all the rest.
Q: What
kind of body cover was Father Thomas wearing? And, what type of material was
the belt?
A: Father
Thomas was wearing a black robe. I did not touch it with my hands. His belt was
the usual one, simply a white rope.
Q: Is the
A: The
River is covered. There is a flat stone at the entrance of the chicken market
next to Rabbi Moussa Abou
Al-Afieh's house, which is used as a cover. The River
is exposed when the stone is removed. That is where we threw the remains of the
body.
At this point the barber was returned to his
private (solitary) room where he was imprisoned. Then the servant Murad Al-Fattal was recalled for questioning.
They (the Investigation Committee) told him that the barber has confessed to
everything and that there was no use for his denial.
The servant, Murk1 Al-Fattal,
said: "I was not present when the slaying of Father Thomas Al-Capuci was carried out. When I came I found him slain and
naked in the rabbi's room, where there was only dirt and wood. Soliman and I then started cutting the body. This was in
the presence of David Harari, Aaron Harari, Isaac Harari, Joseph Harari, Joseph
Lifyado, Rabbi Moussa Abou Al-Afieh, and Rabbi Moussa Bokhoor Yehuda. After we cut the
body into small pieces, we then carried it and threw it in the
Then the questioning was resumed by the Investigator
and the answers of Murad are as follows:
Q: What did you do with the bones?
A: We broke them with mortar
handle over the floor tiles.
Q: What did you do with the head?
A: We smashed it with the handle
too, over the floor tiles.
Q: Did they pay you money?
A: They promised to pay for my
marriage expenses to the girl whom I was engaged to. They also promised
the barber money.
Q: What
kind of a sack did you use? Did you have one or more sacks? Did you carry the
sack alone or did you carry one and the barber another? What was the color of
the sack?
A: There
was only one sack. We cooperated in carrying it together sometimes and one of
us at other times. I carried alone, then the barber
took a turn by himself. The color of the sack was white with blue shade.
Q: Where did you put the sack
after you finished your work?
A: I do not know anything about
it, or its whereabouts.
Q: It
appears from your statement that when you slew Father Thomas you put his blood
in the wash basin without single drop of blood falling outside the basin. But
after you pulled his body to the other room and cut it to pieces was there
still no blood which came from the body?
A: Some blood dropped from the
arteries, but the dirt absorbed it. Nothing remained visible on the surface of
the dirt floor.
Q: How
about the internal organs? What did you do with them? How did you carry them?
What did you do with them?
A: The
internal organs were cut with their contents, put in the sack and then we threw
them along with the other body pieces in the River.
Q: Did any blood or contents of
the intestines leak from the sack during the removal operation?
A: The sack material was strong.
It did not allow any leaking from the sack.
Q: Who participated in the cutting
operation? How many knives did you use? What kind were they?
A: We used
only one knife. It was the type used by butchers. No one other than Soliman and myself did the cutting
which was done in the presence of the seven other men.
Q: Did you
not ask regarding Father Thomas clothes as to what they did with them when you
found him naked?
A: I asked. They said they had
burnt them.
Q: Where is the place of the floor
tiles which you used to break the bones over it?
A: The floor tiles are located
between the two rooms, it is a covered area.
Q: When did you start with the
operation and at what time did you finish with it?
A: We started about
Q: Where is the
A: The
Q: Where did the barber go after
completing the operation?
A: He went to his house.
Q: And you!
How long after that did you stay at your master's house? Did you spend the evening
with the others? What did you do?
A: I waited
an hour and a half. I prepared the tobacco for the smoking of water-pipes for
them and then I went to my house and slept. I do not know if they stayed
overnight or went home.
The Investigator purposely asked Murad the same questions as were previously addressed to
the barber. The answers of both men matched completely, almost with identical
information. Thereupon, the Chairman (Head) of the Investigation Committee, Liwa Sadiq Bey,
decided to immediately move to the scene of the crime. The members of the
Committee agreed and accompanied him. They started their search with David Harari's house, the place where the crime was committed and
carried out. The Investigator asked the barber Soliman
Saloom (who was brought along with the others to
identify the objects and places):
Q: Where did you carry out the
slaying operation?
A: Here! In this furnished room.
He (the Priest) was laid in the middle of
the room; they put the wash basin under his neck and slew him.
Q: Where did you carry out the
cutting of the body?
A: In this rubbish room. The wood
was piled under the arch from the west near the door. Some blood traces were visible on the walls
of the room.
Q: Where did you break his bones
and his head?
A: In this flat space between the
two rooms across the portico. (There appeared to be collapsed tiles caused
by heavy pounding.)
Then the mortar handle was brought in. The barber
recognized it and confirmed that it was the tool used to break the bones.
Next, the knives were introduced - there were three
knives. The barber said that the knife he used was not one of them. It is much
longer and sharper than these, he said. They searched for the knife but could
not find it. The Investigators then dismissed the barber and called the servant
Murad Al-Fattal to the
scene. They asked him the same questions; and the answers were an exact match
to that of the barber.
He pointed out the place where the cutting was
performed; the place used to break the bones, and he recognized the mortar
handle to be the same as he had used. Also he did not agree on the knives
presented to him. He was asked about the place where the pieces of body were
thrown. He led the Investigators to the Friday Marketplace and stopped in front
of Rabbi Moussa Abou Al-Afieh's house and pointed at the place where the flat stone
was removed and the body of Father Thomas Al-Capuci
was thrown in the River.
The Investigators dismissed the servant and
recalled the barber Soliman Saloom.
He Confirmed the exact place where the remains of
Father Thomas had been disposed by dumping them in the River. He lifted the
stone covering, and the traces of flesh and blood were clearly visible therein.
The Investigation
Committee called in specialized workers. The workers went down
to the Salty River bottom and brought some parts of the body --- pieces of
flesh, the liver, the heart, and some blood; and the head with pieces of Father
Thomas' head dress.
Then the Chairman of the Committee, Liwa Sadiq Bey,
ordered the transfer of what they had found to the Office of the Governor. He
then he ordered them to send all his finding to the French Consul, after
packing the remains of Father Thomas in special container, so that a medical
committee of doctors could examine the bones to determine whether they were of
human or animal type. After the examination the French Consul sent two reports
on the matter.
The Testimony of His Excellency
the Consul of Austria1
I, the undersigned, the Consul of Austria in
Merlato
The Austrian Consul to
The Testimony of the French Doctors1
We the undersigned doctors, responsible agents of His
Excellency the Governor, went to the residence of the French Consul for the
purpose of examining bones. The examination revealed them to be those of a
human being. Therefore, we gave this testimony in
1 The Patriarchate Magazine, VI, 1931, pp. 657-672.
1 Rinaldi;
G. Piccolo; F. Massari; Amiantia-Lorasso
also the Governor physician and the Hospital head doctor.
Testimony of the Doctors Committee
The reason for this testimony, on this date, we the
undersigned were called to the residence of His Excellency the French Consul in
Signatures:
Haj Misto Al-Sati, Chief
Surgeon
Mr. Khalif, Surgeon Dr. Mohamad Amin Sakr.
Dr. Mohamad Al-Sati
Dr. Mohamad Ben Al-Said Moussa
Witnessed by Michael Mashagah
The Testimony of Joseph the Barber
I, the undersigned, the barber who cut Father
Thomas Al-Capuci hair as his barber, bear witness
that the pieces of the black headdress which I saw at His Excellency's office,
at the French Consul's residence in Damascus, were truly pieces from the
headdress which Father Thomas used to wear. I identified the marking of the headdress
to Father Franci's Al-Capuci
at my shop before seeing and identifying the pieces of the headdress at His
Excellency's House. I observed with certainty the red mark that I encircled the
lower rim of the interior part of the headdress and which was a darker color
than the upper part. This is what I know, and I bear witness to it before God.
Yusuf Al-Hallaq
(Joseph the Barber)
Witness of Truth
Earlier the French Consul asked the servant Murad Al-Fattal the following:
"You stated that they were very careful in
their collection of the blood in the basin, What did
they do with it?" The servant answered: "It was for the asking of
bread, a kind of bread used religiously." The Consul said: "How did
you learn that?" the servant answered: "I heard them saying that the
blood was for making the unleavened bread."
Then the Chairman of the Investigation Committee
asked: "Since you did no see the blood, how did you know that they took it
to make the unleavened bread?" He answered: "I asked them why did you keep the blood? and they
answered me: to make unleavened bread."
The Chairman of the Committee resumed his
questioning: "Was the slaying of Father Thomas for reason of an obligatory
nature mandated by the Jewish Religion? Or was there feeling of hatred between
them (Father Thomas and the Jews)? Or did they desire to put their hands on his
money?" He answered: "I have no knowledge about that."
With that revelation the case of the slaying of
Father Thomas Al-Capuci was confirmed, and the
identifications and details were apparent. But the case of the murder of his
servant, Ibrahim Amarah
Al-Roomi, was not confirmed. Nothing was yet known about it. Therefore, it was
decided to recall the group of seven men to question them with kindness and
without the exercise of any pressure, to be satisfied with the facts, and to
place them face to face before the deeds they had committed.