Latest / Crime Night / The Mloukhieh Case: Lebanon's "Daughter of the Devil" and the Poisoned Meal That Ended a 15-Year Betrayal

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The Mloukhieh Case: Lebanon's "Daughter of the Devil" and the Poisoned Meal That Ended a 15-Year Betrayal · Crime Night

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today. We're going deep into
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: a really harrowing true crime story out of Lebanon from
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. It's a case that well, it completely gripped.
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  Speaker 2: The nation, Oh absolutely, and not just because of the
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  Speaker 2: terrible act itself, but the sheer calculation behind it, years of.
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  Speaker 1: It exactly psychological manipulation, betrayal, it's all in there. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: this story ended in murder, and it exposed something truly dark.
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  Speaker 2: And the nicknames that sprang up almost immediately tell you
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  Speaker 2: so much. You hear people call it the Malukey case
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  Speaker 2: after the meal involved, right, the poisoned meal or a besettine,
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  Speaker 2: which is the place, the remote area where the body
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  Speaker 2: was eventually discovered.
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  Speaker 1: But the one that really sticks, the one that says
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  Speaker 1: the most about the killer.
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  Speaker 2: Is the daughter of the devil. Yeah. Chilling, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: It speaks volumes about the coldness, the betrayal.
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  Speaker 1: It really does. It sets the stage. So let's focus
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  Speaker 1: on the people at the center of this fuddy. He
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  Speaker 1: was forty seven, a respected guy, family man, and his
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  Speaker 1: wife Lena forty three.
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  Speaker 2: They'd been married for fifteen years. But sources suggest this
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  Speaker 2: wasn't really a partnership. It felt more like a siege,
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  Speaker 2: a long, slow war waged by Lena against Fadi.
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  Speaker 1: Faddi seemed like someone who, on paper had a good life,
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  Speaker 1: solid career in pharmaceuticals, decent money, strong family background, very.
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  Speaker 2: Traditional, close knit family. His father apparently saw him as
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  Speaker 2: the one, you know, the successor, the one to carry
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  Speaker 2: the family name forward. He was the favored son.
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  Speaker 1: Then Lina comes into the picture back in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and eight, and right away his family felt something was off.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, unease, that's the word sorts is used. She was beautiful,
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  Speaker 2: apparently pursued Faddy quite intensely, but there was just this
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  Speaker 2: gut feeling from his family, no specific reason, not yet anyway,
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  Speaker 2: just instinct, pure instinct. And it came down to this
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  Speaker 2: idea that Lena had well, two faces, that's how people
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  Speaker 2: describe her.
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  Speaker 1: Two faces.
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  Speaker 2: How so, one was the charming wife for Faddy, innocent loving.
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  Speaker 2: The other face, though, was the strategist, cold, calculating, and
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  Speaker 2: after their first son was born, that strategic side it
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  Speaker 2: really took over.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, let's break down the siege you mentioned, because this
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  Speaker 1: wasn't just like a difficult marriage. This sounds methodical.
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  Speaker 2: It was very methodical. You can almost see a pattern,
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  Speaker 2: a strategy. First, the money, financial pressure. She pushed Fabe
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  Speaker 2: constantly to work harder, longer hours.
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  Speaker 1: For the kid's future.
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  Speaker 2: That was the line, right, exactly, work twenty four hours
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  Speaker 2: a day if you have to, she apparently said, all
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  Speaker 2: supposedly for their sons. Then came the isolation.
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  Speaker 1: Huh, cutting him off from his family systematically.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, she twisted their support, their interest in his life,
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  Speaker 2: made it seem like they were interfering or worse, trying
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  Speaker 2: to exploit him.
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  Speaker 1: Financially, so painting them as the enemy.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty much making him choose, and sadly it worked. He
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  Speaker 2: became incredibly isolated. Oh so so isolated that sources say
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  Speaker 2: he didn't even go to his own sister's wedding. Think
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  Speaker 2: about that. That's profound isolation driven by Lena's influence.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, But he did maintain some contact with that sister.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, his younger sister. She was apparently quite sharp, saw
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  Speaker 2: through Lena's manipulation and managed to keep a subtle line
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  Speaker 2: of communication open. She was his only link left.
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  Speaker 1: To his old life, and she became his confidant. He
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  Speaker 1: must have been miserable.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, he talked to her about divorce. Apparently many times,
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  Speaker 2: the pressure financial and psychological was immense. He was at
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  Speaker 2: his breaking point.
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  Speaker 1: So the big question then is why didn't he leave
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  Speaker 1: if it was that bad for so long?
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  Speaker 2: That's the tragic core of it. Lena knew his weak spot,
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  Speaker 2: his absolute vulnerability his sons, His two sons, they were
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  Speaker 2: eleven and thirteen around this time. He adored them, and
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  Speaker 2: every single time he got close to ending the marriage,
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  Speaker 2: he stopped. He couldn't bear to be separated from them.
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  Speaker 2: His love for them was the leverage she used.
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  Speaker 1: That's incredibly cruel, and his misery just kept building.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and in the last few years something else started
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  Speaker 2: gnawing at him, a suspicion, a dark feeling that Lina
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  Speaker 2: was cheating on him, no proof, just as gut feeling.
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  Speaker 1: Again, did anything feed that suspicion?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if there was this really bizarre pattern Lena would suddenly,
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  Speaker 2: out of the blue demand a divorce just like that,
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  Speaker 2: But then almost immediately she'd pull back, retract to the demand.
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  Speaker 1: That is strange, any idea why?
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  Speaker 2: Looking back, it seems chillingly clear those demands for divorce
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  Speaker 2: probably lined up perfectly with when her affairs were Let's say,
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  Speaker 2: reaching a peak or causing complications. Maybe she wanted freedom,
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  Speaker 2: then realized she'd lose the stability fight he provided, so.
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  Speaker 1: She'd test the waters. Then snapped back to the marriage.
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  Speaker 2: She controlled exactly a cycle of instability, and that went
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  Speaker 2: on right up until twenty twenty three, until one day
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  Speaker 2: the whole thing just imploded.
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  Speaker 1: What happened?
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  Speaker 2: Faddy? He's forty seven by now, comes home from work
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  Speaker 2: early one day, unexpectedly okay, And as he's going into
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  Speaker 2: his apartment building, he sees a man running, sprinting away
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  Speaker 2: from the building, out through these agricultural fields nearby.
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  Speaker 1: Did he recognize them instantly?
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  Speaker 2: Sources emphasize that he knew was just on the way
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  Speaker 2: the man ran his build. It wasn't a stranger, oh man,
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  Speaker 2: So he goes, he rushes inside. Lena is there, and
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  Speaker 2: she's obviously stressed, panicked. The guilt is written all over
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  Speaker 2: her face. Apparently does she confess under pressure, Yes, she
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  Speaker 2: admits she's been having an affair, but she absolutely refuses
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  Speaker 2: to say who the lover. Is adamant about that she
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  Speaker 2: knew revealing that name would be another level of devastation.
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  Speaker 1: What does Faddy do I mean? This shock must have
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  Speaker 1: been overwhelming.
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  Speaker 2: It must have been, but he actually acted pretty rationally
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  Speaker 2: considering he immediately called his lawyer Yama.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, man, wasn't he also a family friend?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, a childhood friend actually, and the family's lawyer, Yaman
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  Speaker 2: dropped everything rushed over there late.
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  Speaker 1: At night, and Lena confessed to him too.
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  Speaker 2: She did gave Yamen this weak excuse about Faddy being
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  Speaker 2: absent forcing her to look elsewhere. Pathetic really, but they
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  Speaker 2: all agreed right there, divorce immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Finally, but wait, she refused to name the lover.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and even then, in that moment of crisis, she
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  Speaker 2: was still manipulating. She begged Faddy and Yaman to keep
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  Speaker 2: the affair and the whole divorce plan totally secret for
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  Speaker 2: the children, she claimed, always the children, and Faddy, still
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  Speaker 2: trying to shield his sons, agreed to the secrecy.
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  Speaker 1: What did the lawyer advise?
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  Speaker 2: Yaman told Foddy, look, you need to get out of here,
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  Speaker 2: go stay with your parents while we sort out the paperwork,
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  Speaker 2: get some space.
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  Speaker 1: And his family must have been.
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  Speaker 2: Relieved, immensely relieved. They thought the nightmare was finally ending
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  Speaker 2: after more than a decade of watching him suffer being
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  Speaker 2: cut off. They probably felt like celebrating, but it wasn't
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  Speaker 2: over tragically. No, that relief lasted only a few days.
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  Speaker 2: The worst was yet to come.
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  Speaker 1: This takes us till late August twenty twenty three. Faddy's
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  Speaker 1: actually at his sister's house right working on the divorce details.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, he's finally taking steps, getting closer to freedom. And
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  Speaker 2: then his phone rings.
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  Speaker 1: It's Lena, and she uses the kids again.
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  Speaker 2: One last time. She plays her trump card, tells Faddy
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  Speaker 2: the boys miss him terribly. They really want to have
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  Speaker 2: dinner with their dad. She knew he couldn't say no.
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  Speaker 1: That he agrees to go.
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  Speaker 2: Of course he does.
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  Speaker 1: He goes home for dinner, and her behavior that night.
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  Speaker 1: This is where our Daughter of the Devil nickname really
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  Speaker 1: comes into play, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely She puts on a performance, acts remorseful, kind, attentive,
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  Speaker 2: and she makes his absolute favorite dish, maluki a maluky.
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  Speaker 1: The detail of that specific meal prepared like an act
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  Speaker 1: of love. It's just so sinister.
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  Speaker 2: It is the care she took. But it wasn't about
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  Speaker 2: making amends. She'd carefully obtained a poison pasteless, odorless, and
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  Speaker 2: she mixed it directly into his portion of the luky,
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  Speaker 2: he ate it, he ate the meal she prepared.
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  Speaker 1: For him, And then how quickly did it happen?
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  Speaker 2: Minutes within minutes, agonizing stomach cramps started, severe pain.
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  Speaker 1: What did Lena do?
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  Speaker 2: Played the concerned wife, helped him in the bedroom, got
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  Speaker 2: him onto the bed, said he just needed to rest
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  Speaker 2: lie down, let it pass. He was still alive, conscious,
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  Speaker 2: but completely incapacitated by the pape.
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  Speaker 1: He's lying there in agony, and.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, this is the moment the betrayal becomes almost impossible
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  Speaker 2: to have them While Faddi is still alive, still struggling
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  Speaker 2: on that bed, Lena's lever walks into the room.
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  Speaker 1: She lets him in while Foddy is right there.
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  Speaker 2: She welcomes him in. And the final shattering blow for
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  Speaker 2: Faddy wasn't the poison, It was seeing who the lover was.
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  Speaker 1: Who was it?
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  Speaker 2: It was Fida, his closest friend, Assyrian national he had
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  Speaker 2: known for years, confided in that was the man standing
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  Speaker 2: over him with.
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  Speaker 1: His wife, his best friend, the.
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  Speaker 2: Ultimate betrayal, isolated by his wife, poisoned by her, and
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  Speaker 2: now facing his killer who has his closest friend.
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  Speaker 1: What happened? Then?
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  Speaker 2: Lina and Fida attacked him together Fetti was already weakened, struggling.
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  Speaker 2: They beat him until he died right there on the
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  Speaker 2: bed they had shared.
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  Speaker 1: Just horrific, and then the cover up started.
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  Speaker 2: Almost immediately in the dead of night, around two am,
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  Speaker 2: they managed to get Fidi's body out of the apartment
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  Speaker 2: and into Lina's car.
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  Speaker 1: Where did they take him?
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  Speaker 2: They drove to a remote mountainous agricultural area, the place
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  Speaker 2: later known as Albestine desolate, unlike clear to be found quickly?
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  Speaker 1: Did they just dump the body?
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  Speaker 2: Worse, they try to destroy evidence. They used some kind
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  Speaker 2: of powerful corrosive chemical agent on his body to speed
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  Speaker 2: up decomposition, hide the beating, maybe obscure the poisoning. Then
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  Speaker 2: they abandoned him.
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  Speaker 1: There and Lena launches her story.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, her pre planned alibi. She tells everyone Foddy was
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  Speaker 2: suddenly approached by men something about a political party, taken
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  Speaker 2: away in a black car where to Syria, supposedly for
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  Speaker 2: some high paying secret job opportunity. She even claimed he'd
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  Speaker 2: called her from Syria saying he was fine but too
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  Speaker 2: dizzy to contact anyone else, said he'd be back when
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  Speaker 2: the job was done.
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  Speaker 1: Could anyone buy it?
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  Speaker 2: Not for long?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Red flags started popping up almost immediately. On day three,
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  Speaker 2: Foddy's father went to the house. He was worried, obviously,
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  Speaker 2: what does she find. He found Lena outside burning something
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  Speaker 2: in two large barrels. There was this strong smell chemicals,
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  Speaker 2: burning fabric. It was later confirmed she was burning the
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  Speaker 2: bed sheets stained with blood.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, that's suspicious.
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  Speaker 2: Highly suspected. Then day five, another crack appears Faddy's sister,
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  Speaker 2: the perceptive one.
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  Speaker 1: She gets a message, oh.
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  Speaker 2: WhatsApp message supposedly from Foddy telling her not to worry.
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  Speaker 2: He's okay.
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  Speaker 1: But Foddy didn't usually text exactly.
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  Speaker 2: That was the huge red flag for the sister. He
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  Speaker 2: always always send voice notes always, So she pushes back,
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  Speaker 2: asks for a voice message, just to hear his voice
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  Speaker 2: know he's safe, and the response flat refusal, too busy. That,
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  Speaker 2: combined with security services confirming Foddy absolutely never crossed the
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  Speaker 2: border into Syria and the political party she mentioned they
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  Speaker 2: denied ever contacting him, having anything to do with him,
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  Speaker 2: her story was falling apart fast.
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  Speaker 1: So the phone becomes key.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely if he never left Lebanon, but texts are being
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  Speaker 2: sent from his phone pretending he's in Syria. Where's the phone?
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  Speaker 1: The breakthrough must have come from tracing it.
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  Speaker 2: It did swiftly. Day twelve, security forces traced Fatty's phone
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  Speaker 2: number the very last signal transmission. It came from inside the.
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  Speaker 1: House insie Lena in Foddy's house.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and that's I'm being matched perfectly with when those
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: suspicious texts were sent to his sister. That piece of
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  Speaker 2: tech evidence just blew her cover story wide open. She
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  Speaker 2: was lying, the phone never left an house.
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  Speaker 1: And lawyer Yeaman, he must have spoken to the police
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  Speaker 1: by them.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, that's the other crucial piece. Yaman confirmed the whole
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  Speaker 2: backstory the affair. Lena had confessed to the secret plan
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  Speaker 2: for divorce that gave the police the motive. Lena had
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  Speaker 2: everything to lose that the divorce went through publicly revealing
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  Speaker 2: the affair.
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  Speaker 1: So motive opportunity and now the phone evidence pointing right
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  Speaker 1: at her exactly.
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  Speaker 2: The police raided the house, what did they find? Damning evidence,
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  Speaker 2: the missing bedsheets, the father saw her burning despite her
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  Speaker 2: cleaning attempts. Forensic teams found traces of blood, visible remnants,
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  Speaker 2: and crucially, they found Foddy's phone hidden.
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  Speaker 1: Where was it hidden?
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  Speaker 2: Sources don't specify the exact spot, just that it was
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: concealed within the house. But finding that phone after she
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  Speaker 2: claimed he took it to Syria, that was the final nail.
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  Speaker 1: What happened when they found it.
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  Speaker 2: Lina just collapsed, her composure completely shattered. Faced with the
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  Speaker 2: phone the physical proof of her lie. She confessed everything,
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  Speaker 2: the whole horrific story, preparing the blue ky, adding the poison,
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  Speaker 2: fight at arriving, the beating, the cover up, the disposal,
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  Speaker 2: the fake messages.
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  Speaker 1: All of it, and forensics backed it up completely.
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  Speaker 2: The autopsy confirmed fight he died from the poison. It
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  Speaker 2: also found the chemical burns on his skin from their
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  Speaker 2: attempt to destroy the body, and significantly signs of a desperate,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: defensive struggle before he died, he fought back.
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  Speaker 1: It's just layer upon a layer of calculated cruelty, it
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  Speaker 1: really is.
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  Speaker 2: You look at the whole picture. Yeah, the financial draining,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: the isolation from family, then the ultimate betrayal with the poison,
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  Speaker 2: the lover of the friend.
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  Speaker 1: All orchestrated by his wife, with his best friend over
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: a meal she made seem like an apology.
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  Speaker 2: The level of deceit is staggering. Lina was arrested, obviously
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  Speaker 2: and prosecuted.
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  Speaker 1: What about Fider, the friend? The lover.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: He got away, managed to flee Lebanon illegally crossed into Syria.
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  Speaker 2: As far as reports indicate, he remains at large a fugitive.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: So she faces justice, but he doesn't, not.
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  Speaker 2: Yet anyway, and the impact on the community profound shock.
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  Speaker 2: That's why those nicknames stuck, especially the Daughter of the Devil.
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  Speaker 2: It captured the public's horror at the cold bloodedness, the
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  Speaker 2: intimate nature of the betrayal.
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  Speaker 1: It's the manipulation of love that's so chilling. Foddy's deepest commitment,
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  Speaker 1: his love for his son's was the very things she
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  Speaker 1: weaponized to lure him home to his death.
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  Speaker 2: She knew exactly which button to push.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: When you step back from cases like this, you have
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  Speaker 1: to wonder what allows someone to compartmentalize like that, to
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: shed their humanity so completely, especially knowing her children were
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: right there in the house about to witness their mother's
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: arrest for murdering their father.
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  Speaker 2: It's a terrifying question about the darkness that can hide
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  Speaker 2: behind the face of intimacy, A really stark reminder that
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: sometimes the greatest dangers are the ones closest to us.