Speaker 1: Plainfield Township in Illinois stretches across the rolling prairie landscape
Speaker 1: just about thirty five miles southwest of Chicago's gleaming skyline.
Speaker 1: It traces its routes to a Potawatamie village on the
Speaker 1: banks of the due Page River and the French Canadians
Speaker 1: who would trade with them. It was the first white
Speaker 1: settlement in Will County, and the settlers came seeking fertile
Speaker 1: farmland and opportunity. Over the decades, Plainfield evolved from a
Speaker 1: farming community into a thriving suburban township. Long considered a
Speaker 1: small town, Plainfield has experienced substantial growth as Chicago sprawl
Speaker 1: reached westward. By twenty twenty three, had become a place
Speaker 1: where families moved to escape the chaos of city life.
Speaker 1: Tree lined straits, one pass well manicured homes and playgrounds
Speaker 1: where children's laughter echoed on summer afternoons. It was a
Speaker 1: community built on the belief that neighbors looked out for
Speaker 1: each other, where different cultures could coexist peacefully in pursuit
Speaker 1: of the American dream. But not everybody held that belief.
Speaker 1: Sometimes hate confessed or behind closed doors invisible. The neighbors
Speaker 1: who away from their driveways and chat over backyard fences.
Speaker 1: It was a Saturday morning, October fourteenth, twenty and twenty three,
Speaker 1: at a duplex home on a tree lined street. A
Speaker 1: Palestinian mother and her six year old son were going
Speaker 1: about their morning when they heard a knock on the
Speaker 1: front door. What happened next shook the world to its core.
Speaker 2: Male lord's killing baby with a knife. Female is in
Speaker 2: the bathroom the ambulance stage, possibly two stabbing victims, female
Speaker 2: and child. Female has been stabbed a server time actively pleading.
Speaker 1: In twenty and eleven, Hanan Shaheen made the decision to
Speaker 1: leave her homeland of Palestine and start afresh in the
Speaker 1: United States. For years, she had watched their lives shrink
Speaker 1: beneath the weight of conflict, restriction, and uncertainty. At the time,
Speaker 1: the Israeli Palestinian conflict was entering yet another turbulent phase,
Speaker 1: though far from new, two thousand and eleven was marked
Speaker 1: by deepening political fractures and escalating tensions in the region.
Speaker 1: The Palestinian territories, particularly the West Bank, where many like
Speaker 1: Hanan lived, were gripped by economic stagnation and political deadlock. Gaza,
Speaker 1: which was under an Israeli blockade since two thousand and
Speaker 1: seven and governed by Hamas, was railing from the aftermath
Speaker 1: of the two thousand and eight to two thousand and
Speaker 1: nine Gaza War, Israeli military incursions, settler expansion, and internal
Speaker 1: political fragmentation left ordinary families with dwindling opportunities and an
Speaker 1: overwhelming sense of insecurity. For Hanan daily life meant navigating
Speaker 1: to checkpoints, a stagnant job market, and the constant hum
Speaker 1: of anxiety. Education, health care, freedom of movement, things others
Speaker 1: may take for granted were often out of reach or
Speaker 1: heavily restricted, and Ann dreamed of starting a family, building
Speaker 1: a life with possibility, and simply being able to move
Speaker 1: through the world without fear. So she left, arriving not
Speaker 1: just as an immigrant, but as a survivor of a
Speaker 1: long conflict, seeking dignity pace in a place where her
Speaker 1: future children might thrive. In America, she met Ode al
Speaker 1: fa Yume, another Palestinian who had made the same difficult
Speaker 1: journey three years after her. Together they built a new life,
Speaker 1: and in time they welcomed the sun, and Anna and
Speaker 1: Ode looked at their son and saw not just their child,
Speaker 1: but their hopes made flesh what Dea was, by all accounts,
Speaker 1: an extraordinary little boy. He was extraordinary in the way
Speaker 1: that only children can be, completely and authentically himself. His father,
Speaker 1: O Day, would later remember asking his son what he
Speaker 1: loved the most. The answer came without hesitation. Everybody would.
Speaker 1: He loved his toys, especially lego blocks that he'd spend
Speaker 1: hours assembling into fantastic creations. He loved anything with the ball, basketball, soccer,
Speaker 1: it didn't really matter. He also loved color to swing
Speaker 1: at the local park until his mother called him in
Speaker 1: for dinner. He loved hugs and kisses. He couldn't say
Speaker 1: goodbye to somebody without sending kisses. He joined his parents
Speaker 1: in prayer each day, finding joy in their shared faith.
Speaker 1: He was also fascinated by the Solar system, by the
Speaker 1: vastness of space, and the mystery of distant planets. But
Speaker 1: perhaps most remarkably would he loved school. Every morning, he'd
Speaker 1: wake up excited for another day of learning, another chance
Speaker 1: to be with his classmates. His teacher would later say
Speaker 1: that he was the kind of child who made others
Speaker 1: smile just by being himself. All his words are positive
Speaker 1: and good. His mother would remember He was in every
Speaker 1: sense a child filled with light. After Hanana and Oday separated,
Speaker 1: she found herself looking for a new place to live
Speaker 1: with her son Wdea. The search led her to a
Speaker 1: duplex near South Lincoln Highway and Plainfield owned by a
Speaker 1: seventy one year old man named Joseph Suba. Joseph lived
Speaker 1: on the upper floor with his wife of thirty years Mary.
Speaker 1: They were offering two rooms on the ground floor for
Speaker 1: rent three hundred dollars a month, with shared access to
Speaker 1: the living room and kitchen. For a single mother trying
Speaker 1: to make ends mate, it seemed like a reasonable arrangement.
Speaker 1: During their in person interview, Hannan was upfront about who
Speaker 1: they were. She told the Zubas that she and Wodea
Speaker 1: were from Jerusalem and that they were Muslim. Joseph and Mary,
Speaker 1: who were Catholic, said they had no problem with this.
Speaker 1: As long as the rent was paid and there were
Speaker 1: good tenants, everybody would get along fine. And for a
Speaker 1: while they did more than get along. It became something
Speaker 1: like a family. Joseph didn't just tolerate little Wdea. He
Speaker 1: embraced him. He built the boyetry house in the backyard.
Speaker 1: He brought him toys. He set up a blow up
Speaker 1: swimming pool for the hot summer days. He installed the
Speaker 1: basketball hoop and even put stairs nearby so Wadea could
Speaker 1: reach the rim with his shots. People who knew them
Speaker 1: said that Joseph traded Withdea like the grandson he never had.
Speaker 1: On the seventh of October twenty twenty three, the militant
Speaker 1: group A MASS launched a surprise attack on southern Israel,
Speaker 1: breaching the heavily for border fence that separates Gaza from
Speaker 1: Israeli territory. In a matter of ours, over a thousand
Speaker 1: Israelis were killed and hundreds of others taken hostage. What
Speaker 1: followed was an immediate a mass of Israeli military response,
Speaker 1: including air strikes, a ground invasion, and a full siege
Speaker 1: on Gaza. The events of that day and what followed
Speaker 1: didn't emerge in a vacuum. Tensions between Israel and Palestine
Speaker 1: had been building for years. For decades, Palestinians in Gaza
Speaker 1: had lived under a suffocating blockade imposed by both Israel
Speaker 1: and Egypt. Over two million people, half of them children,
Speaker 1: were packed into an area just twenty five miles long,
Speaker 1: with limited access to clean water, electricity, medical supplies, or
Speaker 1: even the ability to leave. In the months leading up
Speaker 1: to the seventh of October, tensions were already boiling Israeli
Speaker 1: military raids in the world. The West Bank had become
Speaker 1: increasingly deadly. Far right ministers were pushing for more aggressive
Speaker 1: settlement expansion, and settlers had carried out attacks on Palestinian
Speaker 1: villages with impunity. Gaza, meanwhile, remained isolated and battered, its people,
Speaker 1: paying the price for geopolitical deadlock year after year. So
Speaker 1: when the events of October seventh unfolded, and there was
Speaker 1: a grim sense among many Palestinians and their supporters that
Speaker 1: this violence hadn't come from nowhere, It came from decades
Speaker 1: of dispossession, from statelessness, from a population repeatedly told that
Speaker 1: their lives mattered less. But in the West this contact
Speaker 1: was largely ignored. The dominant narrative was simple, Israel had
Speaker 1: been attacked and was defending itself. Any mention of the
Speaker 1: humanitarian crisis in Gaza or of Palestinians suffering was dismissed
Speaker 1: as justification for terror, and that narrative had consequences, especially
Speaker 1: for Muslim communities in the United States. In the weeks
Speaker 1: that followed, American Muslims began experiencing a sharp and terrifying
Speaker 1: increase in hate. It was a wave of islamphobia that
Speaker 1: felt earily similar, almost like a replay of the days
Speaker 1: after nine to eleven, where anti Muslim hate crames jumped
Speaker 1: seventeen hundred percent. The Council on American Islamic Relations or
Speaker 1: c AIR reported record high civil rights complaints. Mosques in California, Texas,
Speaker 1: and New York were vandalized or threatened. Muslim women wearing
Speaker 1: he jabs were harassed in public. Students faced bullying or
Speaker 1: disciplinary action for speaking up about Palestine. Social media was
Speaker 1: flooded with hate speech, Muslims being called terrorists, accused of
Speaker 1: supporting Hamas, or told to go back to where they
Speaker 1: came from. For many, it felt like they had been
Speaker 1: forced to choose between their safety and their identity. People
Speaker 1: stopped wearing religious clothing, Parents pulled their kids out of school.
Speaker 1: Mosques had private security. The fear was real, and it
Speaker 1: was everywhere and inside the do plex on South Lincoln Highway.
Speaker 1: Something had shifted to The warm dynamic between neighbors had
Speaker 1: grown quieter. There were no confrontations, no accusations, but something
Speaker 1: unspoken had crept into the home, something heavy. In hindsight,
Speaker 1: people look back and wonder if there been any warning signs,
Speaker 1: any indication that Joseph Suba, the man who once spilt
Speaker 1: a treehouse for a little boy, had changed, But there
Speaker 1: hadn't been, at least not yet for Hannah and madea
Speaker 1: life inside the duplex for the past two years had
Speaker 1: always been peaceful, But in the days following October seventh,
Speaker 1: that quiet equilibri began to unravel. Joseph, like many had
Speaker 1: watched the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza with a
Speaker 1: mixture of horror and confusion. But where others saw tragedy
Speaker 1: and complexity, he seemed to see something else. In the
Speaker 1: weeks that followed, Joseph began listening obsessively to conservative talk radio.
Speaker 1: The voices he tuned into didn't just report the news,
Speaker 1: they amplified it, distorted it, and then fed it through
Speaker 1: a lens of fear. On one particular broadcast, the host
Speaker 1: spoke urgently about Hamas's so called Day of Jahad, referencing
Speaker 1: a call by the militant group for a global day
Speaker 1: of rage on the thirteenth of October Joseph became fixated
Speaker 1: on the idea of a violent attack on American soil,
Speaker 1: convinced that something catastrophic was imminent. At some point, the
Speaker 1: fear seemed to curdle into something else, entirely suspicion than hostility.
Speaker 1: He told his wife Mary that he wanted Hanan and
Speaker 1: would to leave, no warning, no discussion, just a growing
Speaker 1: conviction that their presence in the home was now somehow dangerous.
Speaker 1: Not long after, Hannan encountered Joseph in the shared kitchen.
Speaker 1: At first she assumed it was one of the usual
Speaker 1: quiet exchanges, but the look in his eyes was something unfamiliar.
Speaker 1: He had a cold and intense stare, and then he snapped,
Speaker 1: you people are killing Jewish people and babies in Israel.
Speaker 1: Muslims are not welcome here, not in my home. The
Speaker 1: words hit her like a punch to the chest, and
Speaker 1: Am was stunned, not just by the vitriol, but by
Speaker 1: how sudden it was. This was the man who had
Speaker 1: once built her son a tree house, who had made
Speaker 1: space in his home and his life for both of them,
Speaker 1: and now he was looking at her like she was
Speaker 1: the enemy. Shaking, Hanan reached out to Mary and relayed
Speaker 1: the disturbing interaction. Mary, to her credit, was apologetic and firm.
Speaker 1: She told that she and Woodea were still welcome, that
Speaker 1: Joseph's outburst didn't reflect her own feelings. I was angry
Speaker 1: that he was even asking her to move out, Mary
Speaker 1: would later recall. But the apology did not undo what
Speaker 1: had been said, and it certainly didn't stop what was coming.
Speaker 1: The fear in Joseph Zuba had begun to take on
Speaker 1: a life of its own, fading on every news segment,
Speaker 1: every social media rumor, every conspiracy whisper he absorbed from
Speaker 1: the talk shows. October thirteenth came and went without violence.
Speaker 1: But for Joseph, the absence of danger didn't bring relief.
Speaker 1: It only seemed to confirm his belief that something worse
Speaker 1: was looming. He became increasingly agitated, increasingly irrational. At one point,
Speaker 1: he insisted they withdraw one thousand dollars in cash from
Speaker 1: the bank. He told Mary they needed it on hand
Speaker 1: in case the us porgrid was taken down. It wasn't
Speaker 1: just fear anymore. It was paranoia, and it was spiraling fast.
Speaker 1: It was Sunday morning on October fourteenth, twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: for Hanan and her six year old son, Wadea. It
Speaker 1: began like so many other quiet mornings in their home.
Speaker 1: They had breakfast together, easing into the rhythm of their
Speaker 1: weekend routine. It was a kind of morning where nothing
Speaker 1: seemed out of place, the warning signs, no indication that
Speaker 1: within moments, the world as Hanan knew it would come
Speaker 1: crashing down. She was in the bathroom with Wodea, getting
Speaker 1: ready to give him a shower, when the cam was
Speaker 1: shattered by the sound of loud, angry banging on the
Speaker 1: bedroom door. The clock read just past eleven thirty am.
Speaker 1: Confused and startled, Hanan stepped out to see what was
Speaker 1: going on. When she opened the door, Joseph Zuba was
Speaker 1: standing on the other side, and before or she could
Speaker 1: say a word, he forced his way inside. I told
Speaker 1: you to move out, he screamed, his voice filled with rage,
Speaker 1: and Anne tried to diffuse the situation. She told him
Speaker 1: they were getting ready for the day. She was just
Speaker 1: trying to give her son a shower, but he wasn't listening.
Speaker 1: He followed her inside the room, the fury in his
Speaker 1: voice mounting. He then spat at her, You people are
Speaker 1: killing Jewish babies in Israel, and you're doing nothing about it.
Speaker 1: And Anne's voice trembled. She looked at the man who
Speaker 1: had once been kind to her son and said, pray
Speaker 1: for peace. But those words only seemed to enrage him more.
Speaker 1: You Muslims must die, he screamed. He shoved an hand
Speaker 1: with such force that she fell backwards. Before she could
Speaker 1: scramble to her feet, Zuba was on top of her.
Speaker 1: He gripped her neck, trying to choke her, his hands
Speaker 1: finding her jaw as he pulled and pressed with violent strength.
Speaker 1: And then she saw it, a flash of silver, a
Speaker 1: blade drawn from a holder on his belt. And then
Speaker 1: the stabbing began, and Anne fought with everything she had.
Speaker 1: She tried to shield her body as the knife tore
Speaker 1: through her skin, her arms, her chest, her face. The
Speaker 1: pain was blinding, but the will to survive was stronger. Somehow,
Speaker 1: through the chaos, she managed to knock the knife from
Speaker 1: Joseph Zupa's hand. She grabbed it from the floor and
Speaker 1: turned it on him. In that split second, she was
Speaker 1: fighting not just for her life but for her son's.
Speaker 1: But Joseph was stronger. He wrestled the blade back from
Speaker 1: her and resumed the attack. Standing in the doorway was
Speaker 1: little Bodea, his wide, innocent eyes frozen in horror as
Speaker 1: he watched the man he had once trusted assault his
Speaker 1: mother with a knife. Joseph then turned and looked at him.
Speaker 1: He said, with an eerily calm voice, but I will
Speaker 1: take care of you. I'll raise you. You will grow
Speaker 1: up with me. And Mary, don't tell people I killed
Speaker 1: your mom. And then as suddenly as it started, the
Speaker 1: attack stopped. Joseph stood up and left the room, bloodied
Speaker 1: and gasping for breath, and Anne somehow pulled herself off
Speaker 1: the floor. She stumbled towards the bathroom, clutching her cellphone
Speaker 1: with shaking hands, and locked the door behind her. She
Speaker 1: dialed nine one one and told the despatch what had happened.
Speaker 1: But then came the banging. Joseph was back. He was
Speaker 1: pointing on the bathroom door, and then she heard it,
Speaker 1: a scream, shrill, piercing, filled with terror. It was coming
Speaker 1: from another room. It was Withdea and then his voice,
Speaker 1: high and panicked, called out, oh no, and Anne screamed
Speaker 1: into the phone, her voice breaking with desperation. The landlord
Speaker 1: is killing me in my baby, He's killing my baby
Speaker 1: in another room.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we haven't. The collar on the line is claiming
Speaker 3: that the mother of this child, we're still trying to
Speaker 3: get her language caer harm. That the child is six
Speaker 3: years old. One A one held Lincoln Highway. The females
Speaker 3: claiming that the landlord has the child in another room
Speaker 3: and apparently is either standing or had it down to
Speaker 3: the child.
Speaker 1: Police and paramedics were on the scene within a matter
Speaker 1: of minutes. They entered the home with urgency, following a
Speaker 1: trail of blood that led them down the narrow hallway
Speaker 1: to the bathroom door. Ann was still inside, still clutching
Speaker 1: the phone, still on the line with the nine one
Speaker 1: one operator. She hadn't dared move. I'm too scared to
Speaker 1: do anything, She told them. She thought that she was dying.
Speaker 1: When officers finally reached her, they found her in a
Speaker 1: state of shock. Her face was covered in blood, her
Speaker 1: voice was barely audible. She'd been stabbed repeatedly in the chest,
Speaker 1: the mouth, the neck, and across her cheek near her eye.
Speaker 1: The pain, the trauma, and the fear, none of it
Speaker 1: had caught up with her. Yet she was frozen.
Speaker 2: Is there a baby in my baby? Wasn't there. This
Speaker 2: room is in the room of the man. So many
Speaker 2: seat there's the baby.
Speaker 3: Yet you guys got the baby.
Speaker 1: As paramedics tended to her wounds, others began searching the apartment.
Speaker 1: In one of the bedrooms, paramedic Brandon Vanowski made a
Speaker 1: devastating discovery. There, on the small bed he had slept
Speaker 1: in the night before, lay six year old with dear.
Speaker 1: He was surrounded by blood. Twelve inch military style serrated
Speaker 1: knife was still embedded in his abdomen. All around it
Speaker 1: were wounds. There were twenty six in total. The paramedic
Speaker 1: rushed to his side, desperately checking for a pulse, but
Speaker 1: there was none. Still, he moved quickly. He didn't dare
Speaker 1: remove the knife it might cause further damage, but he
Speaker 1: wrapped it gently and gauze to stabilize it. Outside another
Speaker 1: officer found Joseph Zuba lying on the ground in front
Speaker 1: of the house. He wasn't unconscious, he was waiting When
Speaker 1: officers approached. He sat up slowly. His hands and clothing
Speaker 1: were soaked in blood, and around him were pocket knives.
Speaker 1: On his waist was an empty knife holster. It matched
Speaker 1: the knife found embedded in Wodea's stomach. He was arrested
Speaker 1: on the spot. Both an Anna and Wodea were carried
Speaker 1: from the home on stretchers, paramedics working frantically as they
Speaker 1: were loaded into ambulances. Sirens wailed as they raced towards
Speaker 1: the hospital, but it quickly became clear that only one
Speaker 1: of them would make it. Hannan, although gravely injured, was
Speaker 1: expected to survive. She had fought for her life and
Speaker 1: in doing so, had survived a brutal attack that might
Speaker 1: have easily killed her. But what day was different. The
Speaker 1: knife wounds had cut deep through tissue, muscle, and organs.
Speaker 1: His heart had been stabbed multiple times. By the time
Speaker 1: the ambulance reached the hospital, there was nothing left to
Speaker 1: be done. Just days after celebrating his sixth birthday, woude
Speaker 1: At al Fayoum was pronounced dead. He had been stabbed
Speaker 1: twenty six times by the man who once built him
Speaker 1: a tree house, who brought him toys, who told him
Speaker 1: he'd take care of him. As for Joseph Zuba, he
Speaker 1: was transported to the Will County Sheriff's office. Along the
Speaker 1: way he began to speak. He told the officer driving
Speaker 1: the vehicle that Hanan had been a trained fighter, that
Speaker 1: she had attacked him first. He rambled about being in danger.
Speaker 1: They were just like infested rats. He said, I was
Speaker 1: afraid for my life. I was afraid for my wife.
Speaker 1: I was afraid they were going to do ge hat
Speaker 1: on me. Joseph Zubo's arrested and formally charged with first
Speaker 1: degree murder, attempted first degree murder, took counts of a
Speaker 1: hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. In
Speaker 1: the days following the attack, the will County Sheriff's Office
Speaker 1: released a statement confirming what many already feared. Detectives were
Speaker 1: able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack
Speaker 1: were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim
Speaker 1: and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving her math in
Speaker 1: the Israelise. This episode of Morbidology is brought to you
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Speaker 1: with promo code morbiology. The killing of six year old
Speaker 1: Widea al Fayume reverberated far beyond the quiet suburb of
Speaker 1: playing Fie, Illinois. It made international headlines. His name appeared
Speaker 1: on banners and candlelight vigils across the world. His face
Speaker 1: became a symbol of something bigger, the innocent lives caught
Speaker 1: in the violent wake of global conflict and rising bigotry.
Speaker 1: Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of c ai or Chicago,
Speaker 1: spoke to a say of mourners and reporters and said
Speaker 1: they were not only attacked for their personal identities, but
Speaker 1: for their ethnic and religious identities that we all share.
Speaker 1: They were picked almost randomly to represent all of us,
Speaker 1: and so in that sense, we were all stabbed, we
Speaker 1: were all wounded, we were all killed. That day with
Speaker 1: Ray's uncle Yusuf stood before the press with tears in
Speaker 1: his eyes in a trembling voice as he said, we
Speaker 1: are not animals, we are humans. We want people to
Speaker 1: say us as humans, to fail us as humans, to
Speaker 1: deal with us as humans. Another uncle, Mahmood, reminded the
Speaker 1: world of what was lost. He was a six year
Speaker 1: old boy. Like any other six year old, he liked
Speaker 1: to play. I just want to tell the whole world
Speaker 1: we live in a country called the United States. We're
Speaker 1: not at war and we're not going to bring war
Speaker 1: here too. But for many, the war had already come
Speaker 1: through the screens, the headlines, and the language used to
Speaker 1: describe it. Critics pointed to the media, accusing them of
Speaker 1: fanning the flames of hatred, of framing Palestinians only as
Speaker 1: aggressors and rarely as victims. They spoke avoid Coverage on
Speaker 1: October seventh focused almost exclusively on the Israeli deaths, without
Speaker 1: acknowledging the years of occupation, sage, and suffering that preceded it.
Speaker 1: The context, they said, was crucial, but it was glaringly absent.
Speaker 1: And then there was the voices like Fox News host
Speaker 1: Jesse Waters, who during one broadcast said, plainly, there's no
Speaker 1: difference between Hamas and Palestinians. They all love killing Jews.
Speaker 1: I don't like how people tried to differentiate, and for
Speaker 1: many Muslims and Arab communities in the United States, it
Speaker 1: felt like deja vous Usana Jamal, a board member at
Speaker 1: the Mosque Foundation, didn't mince his words as he said,
Speaker 1: public officials in our media are acting irresponsibly. They're pouring
Speaker 1: gasoline on a fire. The next day, the community gathered
Speaker 1: in Bridgeview, Illinois, a town with deeply rooted Palestinian population,
Speaker 1: to say goodbye to six year old with Da Al Fayoumi.
Speaker 1: His body, wrapped in a white shroud and placed in
Speaker 1: a small casket draped with a Palestinian flag, was carried
Speaker 1: through a sea of mourners into the Mosque Foundation, one
Speaker 1: of the largest mosques in the region. The crowd spilled
Speaker 1: out into the surrounding streets. Many people were weeping, others
Speaker 1: stood in silence, clutching one another as was brought inside
Speaker 1: for his jenaza. This is an Islamic funeral prayer that
Speaker 1: is traditionally performed quickly after death, in keeping with Muslim
Speaker 1: customs that emphasize respect and dignity for the deceased inside.
Speaker 1: A ma'am Jamal said addressed the mourners and said, Wadea
Speaker 1: is a child and he is not the only one
Speaker 1: under attack. Children are being slaughtered literally in the Holy Land, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: which is very sad. He pleaded with those listening, both
Speaker 1: in person and watching from Afar, to avoid rushing to
Speaker 1: judgment or choosing sides without understanding the full context. He said,
Speaker 1: we pray that justice and peace will prevail. Waddeia's father
Speaker 1: O'Day stood close to his son's casket and silently prayed.
Speaker 1: Han Ann, who was still recovering from her injuries, was
Speaker 1: unable to attend. She remained in hospital, barely able to walk.
Speaker 1: After the Jenaza leaders from the community in Woodea's father
Speaker 1: carried the small casket outside and placed it gently into
Speaker 1: a hearse As it pulled away, hundreds followed on foot,
Speaker 1: chanting softly in Arabic. Later that day, mourners reconvened at
Speaker 1: Parkham Cemetery. Palestinian flags fluttered in the wind. Children were
Speaker 1: lifted onto their parents shoulders to see over the crowd.
Speaker 1: A ma'am stood near the freshly dog grave and reminded
Speaker 1: everybody that children in Islamic belief go straight to heaven
Speaker 1: for their purity and innocence. There was no doubt Wherewidia
Speaker 1: was now, they said. AmAm o Mar, who traveled to
Speaker 1: be there, addressed the mourners and said, this graveyard is
Speaker 1: a reminder. It's a reminder for all the children in Gaza.
Speaker 1: We are left with this emptiness, this void. It is
Speaker 1: our responsibility to make sure that no more blood is
Speaker 1: shed for no reason. The funeral costs were entirely covered
Speaker 1: by the community. A fundraiser launched in the aftermath of
Speaker 1: the tragedy had raised over six hundred thousand and dollars
Speaker 1: in just a matter of days. That money would help
Speaker 1: with the burial and provide some measure of stability for Hanana,
Speaker 1: she recovered. Later that week, a vigil was held at
Speaker 1: a local basketball court in Plainfield, a place where Wodea
Speaker 1: once played. Dozens of classmates came with their parents, many
Speaker 1: holding handmade signs. One of them read, I'm not a threat.
Speaker 1: Another justice for Woodea. Woddea's father O'Day, stood before the crowd,
Speaker 1: barely able to speak through his grief. His voice broke
Speaker 1: as he said, with Woodea gone, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: room for me to speak English anymore. And Ann was
Speaker 1: released from hospital on the twentieth of October. Her wounds
Speaker 1: were healing, but the road ahead would be long and uncertain.
Speaker 1: She had survived a brutal attack and lost the only
Speaker 1: son she had, the boy she called her best friend.
Speaker 1: She went through something that no mother should have to
Speaker 1: go through, said Deputy Chief Dan Jungles. Days later, her
Speaker 1: An ansat thorn for an interview with ABC News. Her
Speaker 1: space still bore the physical scarce of the attack. Her
Speaker 1: voice was quiet but clear as she said I need justice.
Speaker 1: I trust in God, and God will give us a
Speaker 1: good result. On the thirtieth of October twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: Joseph Zuba appeared in court for the first time. Dressed
Speaker 1: in a red prison jumpsuit. He looked gaunt and withdrawn,
Speaker 1: his face expressionless, his eyes rarely opening as the charges
Speaker 1: against him were read first degree murder, attempted murder, two
Speaker 1: hate crimes, and aggravated battery. He pleaded not guilty. In
Speaker 1: the gallery with DEA's father, Odey sat still and silent.
Speaker 1: He stared directly at the man accused of killing his son,
Speaker 1: hoping to lock eyes, hoping for a flicker of remorse,
Speaker 1: but Zuba kept his gaze averted. He closed his eyes
Speaker 1: and refused to look at him. His defense team argued
Speaker 1: for bail, describing him as a military veteran with no
Speaker 1: significant criminal history and long standing ties to the community,
Speaker 1: but the judge denied the request, citing the severity of
Speaker 1: the crime and the danger Zoob opposed not only to Hanan,
Speaker 1: but to the broader Muslim community in Plainfield. He was
Speaker 1: then ordered to be held without bond. The following month,
Speaker 1: day filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Suba, his wife, Mary,
Speaker 1: and their property management company. His attorney, Ben Crane stated,
Speaker 1: justice comes in many forms. There is obviously an unbelievable
Speaker 1: loss in Wodea, but his mother was also seriously injured.
Speaker 1: This family has been through a whole lot, and if
Speaker 1: there's something the civil justice system can do to ease
Speaker 1: that burden, then we need to figure that out. The
Speaker 1: lawsuits sought damages necessary to fully and fairly compensate the
Speaker 1: next of kin under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. In
Speaker 1: the aftermath of the tragedy, ode had taken time off
Speaker 1: work to grief. That time turned into unemployment as he
Speaker 1: lost his job. Eventually he began driving for umber to
Speaker 1: make against mate. I lost my everything, he said. He
Speaker 1: would later tell reporters that his son was not only
Speaker 1: a victim of violence, but of hatred. He stated he
Speaker 1: was targeted because of his faith, because he was Muslim.
Speaker 1: Let his life inspire us to reject bigotry and to
Speaker 1: embrace the diversity that makes our nation so beautiful. In
Speaker 1: February twenty twenty four, Annan was officially appointed as the
Speaker 1: special administrator of Oodea's estate in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Speaker 1: The lawsuit was expanded to include Zuba's brother Daniel, who
Speaker 1: had helped facilitate the rental agreement. Annan had originally found
Speaker 1: the apartment through him. The suit alleged that Mary and
Speaker 1: Daniel had failed to warn Hanan that Joseph held extreme
Speaker 1: dangerous beliefs about Muslims and Palestinians, believes that had grown
Speaker 1: increasingly unstable in the days before the attack. Han Ann
Speaker 1: had considered moving out, afraid of Joseph's escalating hostility, but
Speaker 1: Mary had told her not to worry. She said that
Speaker 1: Joseph would leave if it came to it that Hanan
Speaker 1: and Whdaa were safe. After Joseph's arrest, Mary filed for divorce.
Speaker 1: That lawsuit is still ongoing today. As the court case
Speaker 1: won through the system, the community did what it could
Speaker 1: to carry Wooday's memory forward. On the one year anniversary
Speaker 1: of his murderer, residents gathered in Settler's Park in Plainfield
Speaker 1: for a memorial. Trisha Matthias, one of Odea's teachers, stood
Speaker 1: before the crowd and said, Butia is continuing to make
Speaker 1: a difference in people's lives. My goal for my students
Speaker 1: is for them always to become something. He inspires me
Speaker 1: every single day. Ode also spoke, His voice trembled, but
Speaker 1: he wanted people to know that his son was never
Speaker 1: far from him. He stated, He's still alive in me.
Speaker 1: I talked to him, hear him, I see him. I
Speaker 1: know he's in a good place right now. The murder
Speaker 1: trial was initially scheduled for March of twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: but by early January that date was in jeopardy. Joseph
Speaker 1: Zuba had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and he
Speaker 1: was refusing treatment. His prognosis was uncertain. Prosecutors warned that
Speaker 1: he could die at any time, and if that happened,
Speaker 1: the case would be closed. It was a haunting possibility
Speaker 1: for Wouda's family. It didn't feel like justice at all,
Speaker 1: but both sides continued preparing for trial. Meanwhile, the community
Speaker 1: found other ways to memorialize the day. In February, on
Speaker 1: the east side of Van Horn Woods, a park where
Speaker 1: we Dae loved, a new sensory plague ground was dedicated
Speaker 1: in his honor. The laughter and joy of the children
Speaker 1: who played there would carry his spirit forward. A monument
Speaker 1: was later unveiled. It depicted a silhouette of Woodea standing
Speaker 1: tall and full of life. The project was funded by
Speaker 1: local Scouting America groups, who raised the money in mere minutes.
Speaker 1: According to Scout later mar Ali, the community's swift response
Speaker 1: was testament to how deeply Wooda's story had moved everyone.
Speaker 1: Odey was there for the unveiling. As he looked at
Speaker 1: the sculpture, surrounded by families, he turned to the crowd
Speaker 1: and said, it seems you all will not forget my son,
Speaker 1: and for that I thank you. Then he paused and
Speaker 1: smiled through his tears and said, it feels like everyone
Speaker 1: here is my extended family. The murder trial of Joseph
Speaker 1: Suba began on February twenty fifth, two thousand and twenty five.
Speaker 1: He was escorted into the courtroom by sheriff's deputies. Dressed
Speaker 1: in a sude and tie. His gray hair had grown
Speaker 1: long and fell beyond his shoulders. His face was pale, unreadable.
Speaker 1: He glanced briefly at the jury, then looked down at
Speaker 1: the table in front of him. Prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald stood
Speaker 1: before the court room and said Wadea was six years
Speaker 1: old on October fourteenth, two thousand and twenty three, not
Speaker 1: quite four feet pall sixty two pounds. On that day,
Speaker 1: Wadea al Fayoumi was stabbed twenty six times, twenty six times,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, by that defendant. He pointed directly at Zuba,
Speaker 1: who sat motionless. He then continued staring he could not escape.
Speaker 1: If it wasn't enough that this defendant killed that little boy,
Speaker 1: he left the knife in the little boy's body. Fitzgerald
Speaker 1: told the jury that this wasn't a random or senseless act.
Speaker 1: It was a hate crime. He said Zuba had attacked
Speaker 1: Wadea and his mother, Hanan simply because they were Moslim.
Speaker 1: The attack, he said, had been motivated by the outbreak
Speaker 1: of the war in the Middle East, a war that
Speaker 1: Zuba irrationally believed would reach his front door. He said,
Speaker 1: this happened because this defendant was afraid that a war
Speaker 1: that started on October seventh, twenty twenty three, a half
Speaker 1: world away in the Middle East was going to come
Speaker 1: to his doorstep. Zuba's defense attorney, Kylie Blatty, urged the
Speaker 1: jury to look beyond the horror of what had happened
Speaker 1: and scrutinized the evidence carefully. She stated, go beyond the emotions,
Speaker 1: to carefully examine the evidence. It's easy to get lost
Speaker 1: in the horror of those images. The first witness to
Speaker 1: take the stand was with Deea's mother, Hanan. She walked
Speaker 1: slowly to the witness box, wearing hey jab and black clothing.
Speaker 1: Her voice trembled as she recounted the events of that morning.
Speaker 1: She described the moment she was attacked, telling the jury,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking it's the moment I'm dying in this moment.
Speaker 1: The nine one one call was then played in the courtroom.
Speaker 1: Images of Hanan's bloodied face followed. Then body camp footage
Speaker 1: was played. It showed the moment police officers found Withdeia's
Speaker 1: small body. One officer could be heard gasping and repeating,
Speaker 1: holy shit, holy shit as he took in the horrific scene.
Speaker 1: Several first responders were then called to testify. They described
Speaker 1: Zuba being found outside the house covered in blood. He
Speaker 1: was sweating and visibly agitated. He had a knife holder
Speaker 1: on him in three pocket knives. Deputy Sheriff Matthew Starvick
Speaker 1: told the court he had blood all over his body,
Speaker 1: all over his hands, and he was speating profusely. Another
Speaker 1: officer testified about Zuba's demeanor during the drive to the
Speaker 1: Sheriff's office. A video of the transport was played in court.
Speaker 1: At one point, Zuba muttered to himself, she didn't tell
Speaker 1: me she was Muslim. Mary, his ex wife, also took
Speaker 1: to the stand for the prosecution. She said that before
Speaker 1: the attack they had enjoyed a warm relationship with Hanana Wadea,
Speaker 1: but something changed after the seventh of October. Zuba became
Speaker 1: withdrawn and anxious. He started making comments he wanted them
Speaker 1: to move out, simply because they were Muslim. Mary told
Speaker 1: the court she strongly opposed this. I never thought anything
Speaker 1: like this could happen, she said, then came the forensic evidence.
Speaker 1: Investigators had recovered the knife that was still lodged in
Speaker 1: with Daa's stomach. Blood DNA testing revealed it contained a
Speaker 1: mixture from all three with Deea, Hanan and Zuba. Suba's
Speaker 1: pants were also soaked in blood, and tests confirmed the
Speaker 1: presence of both his DNA and with DAIS. As the
Speaker 1: trial moved forward, the weight of evidence mounted. Despite the
Speaker 1: defenses claimed that the full picture hadn't yet been seen,
Speaker 1: the picture unfolding in court was already devastatingly clear. During
Speaker 1: closing arguments, the prosecution reminded the jury of exactly who
Speaker 1: Joseph Suba had become in the weeks leading up to
Speaker 1: the murder and what he believed. Prosecutor Christopher Cock played
Speaker 1: the video of Suba in the back of the patrol
Speaker 1: car once again, then looking directly at the jury, he said,
Speaker 1: he thinks they're rats. What do you do when you
Speaker 1: have an infested rat situation? You exterminate, and that's what
Speaker 1: he did that day. The defense, led by George Leonard,
Speaker 1: tried to cast out. He criticized the police investigation, pointing
Speaker 1: out that a blood soaked blanket found near with Daya
Speaker 1: hadn't been tested. He questioned the severity of Hannan's injuries
Speaker 1: and scrutinized her testimony. It was an attempt to plant
Speaker 1: the seed of reasonable doubt, but the prosecutor didn't let
Speaker 1: it slide. He turned back to the jury and made
Speaker 1: it clear that the defense attorney's failed insinuation was that
Speaker 1: Hanan had killed her own son. He told them that's
Speaker 1: what he's really trying to say, that she did it,
Speaker 1: but it makes no sense. The jury had seen the evidence.
Speaker 1: Zuba had been found drenched in blood, the sheath to
Speaker 1: the murder weapon had been on his person, his DNA
Speaker 1: was on the knife that was still lodged in Widea's body,
Speaker 1: and those muttered words in the patrol car she didn't
Speaker 1: tell me she was a Muslim were as close to
Speaker 1: her confession as it gets. There is zero doubt in
Speaker 1: this case, the prosecutor said. The jury agreed. After just
Speaker 1: ninety minutes of deliberation, they returned with their verdict. Joseph
Speaker 1: Zuba was found guilty on all charges, including the first
Speaker 1: degree murderer of six year old Widea al Fayoumi. The
Speaker 1: verdict brought a measure of justice, but not closure. Abe
Speaker 1: By Yube, executive director of the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee,
Speaker 1: later said to Day's verdict delivers a measure of justice
Speaker 1: for Widea Alfa Yumi's family and sends a clear message
Speaker 1: that hatefield violence has no place here. We will never
Speaker 1: accept nor forget that a six year old child lost
Speaker 1: his life because of dangerous anti Palestinian rhetoric. Ben Crump,
Speaker 1: the National civil rights attorney representing Hanan, echoed the sentiment
Speaker 1: and said, this verdict is a measure of justice, but
Speaker 1: the work continues. We must honor with Day's memory by
Speaker 1: fighting hate and working towards the future where every child
Speaker 1: is safe, valued, and free from violence. Would HEAs father ode, tearfully, added,
Speaker 1: I pray that this senseless loss is the last that
Speaker 1: we say, and that no child would suffer what my
Speaker 1: beloved Woodea had to go through. On the second of May,
Speaker 1: Joseph Zuba was brought back to court to be sentenced.
Speaker 1: Wouldea's family were present. They gave emotional victim impact statements
Speaker 1: describing the void the murder had left behind. His grandfather
Speaker 1: Mamood turned to Zuba and asked, why did you do it?
Speaker 1: Mister Joseph? Say something but Zuba stared straight ahead and
Speaker 1: said nothing. Mamood continued, with his voice cracking. We need
Speaker 1: to know, we deserve for mister Joejoseph to explain his acts.
Speaker 1: One stab was not enough give the father that peace
Speaker 1: of mind who had all the plans for his future.
Speaker 1: Joseph Zuba never spoke. He was then sentenced to fifty
Speaker 1: three years in prison at seventy three years old. It
Speaker 1: was effectively a life sentence, but prison wouldn't hold him
Speaker 1: for long. On the twenty fourth of July twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: less than three months after his sentencing, Joseph Zuba was
Speaker 1: found dead in his prison cell. He'd been receiving round
Speaker 1: the clock medical care for stage four prostate cancer. The
Speaker 1: official cause of death was listed as natural causes. The
Speaker 1: autopsy was performed. Following his death. Ahmed Rehab, executive director
Speaker 1: of the Council on American Islamic Relations Chicago, released a
Speaker 1: statement which read, this depraved killer has died, but the
Speaker 1: heat is still alive and well. Wodea was stabbed to
Speaker 1: death twenty six times for being Palestinian. Two years later,
Speaker 1: Even as we speak, thousands of gas and children are
Speaker 1: being shot bombed and starved to death for being Palestinian.
Speaker 1: It's the hate that must die. Well, that is it
Speaker 1: for this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for listening, and I'd like to say a big
Speaker 1: oh thank you to my newest supporters up on Pedron,
Speaker 1: Tara j Jennifer and the Marx Brothers. Morbidology is a
Speaker 1: one woman podcast, so the support up on their Seriously
Speaker 1: Seriously goes such a long way. It helps to defray
Speaker 1: the costs of hosting subscriptions and freedom of information requests,
Speaker 1: and I am eternally grateful. Morbidology is now up on YouTube,
Speaker 1: so if you can head on over there and hit
Speaker 1: that subscribe button, I would be eternally grateful. The episodes
Speaker 1: there are done in a documentary style, with photographs and
Speaker 1: videos associated with each episode. Remember to check us out
Speaker 1: at morbidology dot com for more information about this episode
Speaker 1: and to read some true crime articles. Until next time,
Speaker 1: take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing week.