Joseph Czuba, the Plainfield man accused of stabbing 6-year-old Wadee Al Fayoumi to death, was found bloody and sweaty by Will County sheriff’s deputies investigating the attack.
Czuba “had blood all over his body, all over his hands and he was sweating profusely” and there were “a few knives laying around him,” Deputy Sheriff Matthew Starcevich told jurors on Wednesday.
Starcevich and his partner, Riguberto Cisneros, were among the first on the scene on the morning of Oct. 14, 2023, and found Wadee and his mother, Hanan Shaheen.
Told to look for a male landlord, they soon spotted Czuba lying on his back in the driveway. Starcevich said they approached with their weapons drawn.
Body camera footage shows Czuba sitting up, with his hands behind him as the deputies approached.
Deputies also noticed a knife holster on Czuba’s waistband, which Starcevich recognized as a sheath for a ScubaPro dive knife. That same sheath was shown to jurors Wednesday.
Czuba, 73, is accused of stabbing his tenant, Shaheen, and killing Wadee, after becoming radicalized by conservative commentary about the war in Gaza.
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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.
Czuba's ex-wife of 30 years, Mary Connor, also testified Wednesday and said Czuba was mostly quiet in the week leading up to the killing and had taken $1,000 out of his bank account after expressing concern for the U.S. amid the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
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Connor said Czuba walked into a cold house on Oct. 13, the day before the stabbings, and told her he could fix anything before going on to research companies to fix the home's HVAC system.
Connor testified that Czuba was not his normal self the morning of the stabbings and was seen working on a puzzle before Connor left the home for the day.
According to Connor, Shaheen moved into the residence in October 2021 and Czuba had no issues with them living in the residence.
Connor said Czuba brought home toys for Wadee and aimed to make the home welcoming, with her only knowledge of a previous issue was hearing that Czuba felt Wadee was getting too close to the highway, though Connor said she did not see this happen.
In her testimony, Connor added that her marriage with Czuba included arguments but "no real violence," and said he had expressed concerns to Shaheen about children dying in the Middle East and wanted her to move out.
"I never thought anything like this could happen," Connor said.
After the stabbings, Shaheen was taken to an emergency room and treated by physician assistant Alan Favela.
Favela told jurors Wednesday that he applied 19 stitches to cuts on Shaheen’s face and staples to a laceration on the back of her scalp. Favela also treated injuries to her hands.
Speaking to a packed court Tuesday, Shaheen told jurors Czuba attacked her while yelling “You Muslim must die.” Shaheen said Czuba eventually left, and she ran to the bathroom to call 911.
Czuba returned and attempted to enter the bathroom, according to Shaheen. She then testified she began “hearing screaming, my son screaming, screaming, screaming.”
Officers testified they arrived and found the boy lying shirtless on a bed.
In body camera footage shown to jurors Tuesday, responding officers can be heard screaming out “Holy f —, oh my god, oh my god,” as they make the discovery.
Wadee had been stabbed 26 times, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.
