Latest / Crime Night / Murder by Jinn or Madness: The Unsolved Superhuman Matricide of Cairo

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Murder by Jinn or Madness: The Unsolved Superhuman Matricide of Cairo · Crime Night

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today. We're looking into a case,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: a really disturbing one that kind of pushes the boundaries
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: of what we think about criminal motive.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's set back in nineteen ninety four, Cairo, Egypt.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Ah.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking about a seemingly normal, respectable family whose lies
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: just completely shattered one night because of this, well, this
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  Speaker 2: incredibly violent and mysterious event.
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  Speaker 1: Our goal here is to try and piece together these
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  Speaker 1: really conflinding accounts. You've got the official police investigation, which
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  Speaker 1: labels it murder, plain and simple, but then.
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  Speaker 2: You have these persistent stories from the family from spiritual perspectives,
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  Speaker 2: framing it as something else entirely like a malicious possession.
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  Speaker 2: We want to lay out the facts for you what
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  Speaker 2: actually happened and dig into that big question why.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so let's take you there. Picture the Albasten neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: Late at night, around eleven PM. Usually quiet, dead.
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  Speaker 2: Quiet typically, but on this particular night, that quiet is
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  Speaker 2: just obliterated. There's this horrible cacophony coming from one apartment,
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  Speaker 2: Abduazz's place, this.
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  Speaker 1: Really unsettling mix. You hear high pitched screaming, terrified screaming.
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  Speaker 1: Later confirmed to be the mother heck Matt shouting for help, but.
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  Speaker 2: Layered over that, and this is what really unnerved the
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  Speaker 2: neighbors was this loud, almost hysterical laughter, maniacal laughter, and
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  Speaker 2: alongside that the unmistakable awful sound of someone being beaten severely,
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  Speaker 2: the thud.
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  Speaker 1: And then it spills out into the open a beer.
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  Speaker 1: She's the twenty two year old daughter known for being
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  Speaker 1: pretty quiet. You know, she appears on the balcony.
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  Speaker 2: He's not herself. Witnesses described her as being in this
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  Speaker 2: frenzied state, possessed by this incredible power, and they saw
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  Speaker 2: her do something impossible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, she apparently starts ripping apart this really thick, strong
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  Speaker 1: clothesline with her bare.
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  Speaker 2: Hands, bare hands something you normally need tools for r
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  Speaker 2: She just tears it apart, and she shouts down to
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  Speaker 2: the crowd that's gathering below.
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  Speaker 1: And it's chilling. She screams that she and her younger
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  Speaker 1: sister Huda, who's eighteen, are going to murder their mother,
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  Speaker 1: heck Matt, that very night.
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  Speaker 2: And then she tells them anyone who loves eck Matt
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  Speaker 2: should quote go pray for her, just like that.
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  Speaker 1: Cold Now, you'd think the police would rush over, but
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  Speaker 1: incredibly the first calls, multiple frantic calls, they get dismissed,
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  Speaker 1: brushed off. Is just a resolved domestic fight.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to believe. It actually took a neighbor, a
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  Speaker 2: guy named Autef, to realize no, this is far from over.
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  Speaker 2: He decides he has to go see for himself what's.
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  Speaker 1: Really going on, And this is where things get even stranger.
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  Speaker 1: A tef finds Abdulaziz, the father, just sitting on the
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  Speaker 1: stairs outside his own locked department.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's partly closed, clearly been beaten up pretty badly.
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  Speaker 2: He looks like he's in shock.
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  Speaker 1: And Abdulaziz tells Atif this terrifying story. He says he
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: woke up found his daughter's a beer in Hudah savagely
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  Speaker 1: attacking his wife, heck Matt.
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  Speaker 2: He tried to step in, obviously, but he says a
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  Speaker 2: beer turned on him, and he described her strength as
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  Speaker 2: well as superhuman. Said she just completely overpowered him, threw
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  Speaker 2: him out of the apartment and locked the door, left
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  Speaker 2: him there beaten.
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  Speaker 1: So now I have claim right superhuman strength from the
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  Speaker 1: father himself.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, and me might dismiss that, as you know, shock
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  Speaker 2: or hysteria talking. But remember the clothesline, a beer ripped apart,
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  Speaker 2: and the state the father was in. The physical evidence
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  Speaker 2: seems to back up that something extraordinary, some abnormal force
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  Speaker 2: was involved.
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  Speaker 1: At Tef, though, he's still skeptical about the whole superhuman thing,
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  Speaker 1: so he goes up to the apartment door himself starts
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  Speaker 1: banging on it, demanding they open up.
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  Speaker 2: All he hears from inside her curses, shouts telling him
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  Speaker 2: to leave them alone. He demands they at least give
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  Speaker 2: him the father's clothes.
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  Speaker 1: Back, and then a beer opens the door, just a crack,
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  Speaker 1: just enough Fray to have to throw the clothes out.
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  Speaker 1: But in that split second, a Tef gets a glimpse inside.
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  Speaker 2: And what he saw must have been horrifying. He sees
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  Speaker 2: heck maat the mother lying on the floor, barely moving,
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  Speaker 2: covered in blood, and Huda, the younger sister, is standing
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  Speaker 2: over her, actually hitting her with.
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  Speaker 1: A stick and adding to the sheer strangeness. In the background,
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  Speaker 1: there's a cassette player playing quietly. It's Surat Albakara the
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  Speaker 1: Cow chapter.
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  Speaker 2: From the Koran yeah which is often used in rituals
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  Speaker 2: like exorcisms to ward off evil spirits. So you have
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  Speaker 2: this sacred text playing softly while this brutal violence is happening.
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  Speaker 2: The contrast is just deeply unsettling.
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  Speaker 1: Atof said Abir's face looked terrifying as she threw the
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  Speaker 1: close out. She grabbed his arm and he felt it too,
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  Speaker 1: that same immense, unnatural strength, way too strong for her build.
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  Speaker 2: And then just before she slams the door shut, she
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  Speaker 2: gives him this strange, calm smile and says something really odd,
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  Speaker 2: almost at a prophecy.
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  Speaker 1: She tells him, go up to your apartment and God
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  Speaker 1: will bless you with Yusuf and Ibrahim like a blessing.
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  Speaker 1: Right after this horrific scene, then slams.
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  Speaker 2: The door and atif notices one more thing inside just
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  Speaker 2: before the door shut, another girl terrified frozen. It was
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  Speaker 2: Eman Denise, just standing there, seemingly unable to move or react.
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  Speaker 1: So that raises the huge question, doesn't it What could
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  Speaker 1: possibly cause this this complete change in personality, this terrifying strength.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't just come out of nowhere, And according to
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  Speaker 2: the family, the source material indicates things had been escalating
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  Speaker 2: for a while for about three months before this night.
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  Speaker 1: Right, let's rewind three months. According to the sister's own account. Later,
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  Speaker 1: they were just watching TV, normal evening, and.
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  Speaker 2: Then this weird thing happens. A white cat appears, just
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  Speaker 2: walks past them and then seems to sort of vanish
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  Speaker 2: right into a Beer's.
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  Speaker 1: Chest, vanish into her chest.
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  Speaker 2: That's the testimony. And immediately after that, a Beer's behavior
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  Speaker 2: starts changing dramatically. She begins having these episodes like seizures,
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  Speaker 2: and she starts speaking in this strange dialect and unfamiliar
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  Speaker 2: Gulf Arabic dialect.
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  Speaker 1: And it wasn't just a beer.
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  Speaker 2: No. Very quickly, whoda, the younger sister started showing the
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  Speaker 2: same symptoms, same episodes, same strange dialect.
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  Speaker 1: And there was more, wasn't there other strange occurrences.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, a Beer apparently developed these oddibilities, like she could
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  Speaker 2: somehow sense exactly who was knocking at the door before
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  Speaker 2: anyone even opened it. She started predicting things for family
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  Speaker 2: member's future.
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  Speaker 1: Of so, faced with all this, why didn't they rush
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  Speaker 1: them to a doctor? It sounds like a serious mental
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  Speaker 1: health crisis.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you have to consider the cultural context. The parents,
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  Speaker 2: Abdulazase and Heckbat. They were deeply worried about their daughter's reputations,
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  Speaker 2: Their marriage prospects in that community. These kinds of symptoms
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  Speaker 2: often lead to a spiritual explanation first for a medical
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  Speaker 2: one exactly, so they didn't go to a hospital initially,
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  Speaker 2: they sought out a spiritual healer, and this healer listened, observed,
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  Speaker 2: and confirmed what they probably suspected, which was possession by gin,
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  Speaker 2: and specifically gin of golf origin, which would explain the
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  Speaker 2: dialect the girls were suddenly speaking Gin.
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  Speaker 1: These are unseen beings or spirits in Islamic tradition right,
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  Speaker 1: capable of influencing or possessing people. So for the family,
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  Speaker 1: this wasn't just folklore. It was a real explanation.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and their belief was seemingly confirmed during the treatment attempts. Witnesses,
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  Speaker 2: including family members, reported truly to terrifying things happening during
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  Speaker 2: choronic resitations meant to expel the gin like what they
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  Speaker 2: claimed to Beer's hands and looked like they were literally
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  Speaker 2: on fire, and that actual small fires would just spontaneously
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  Speaker 2: erupt inside the apartment during these sessions.
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  Speaker 1: Actual fires spontaneously.
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  Speaker 2: That's what was reported. So you can see how this
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  Speaker 2: convinced the family they weren't dealing with illness, but with
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  Speaker 2: something Wow, something supernatural and hostile.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So back to the night of the attack. This chaos,
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  Speaker 1: the screaming, the laughing, the beating. It went on for hours,
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  Speaker 1: didn't it, from eleven pm right through until the early morning.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, until about five am. And apparently Abdulaziz kept calling
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  Speaker 2: the police, but then he'd call back saying no, no,
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  Speaker 2: it's okay, it's resolved.
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  Speaker 1: Was he trying to protect the girls or maybe just terrified,
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  Speaker 1: hoping whatever it was would just leave.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to say. It really speaks to the utter
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  Speaker 2: confusion and terror they must have been feeling. It wasn't
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  Speaker 2: until seven am, when the sun was coming up, that
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  Speaker 2: Abdulaziz finally came back, this time with his older son
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  Speaker 2: and daughter. They gathered some neighbors.
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  Speaker 1: And they finally broke down the door.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, they managed to get inside and subdue who to
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  Speaker 2: and a beer, they found heckmet the mother, still alive,
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  Speaker 2: but barely severely injured, close torn, bleeding heavily.
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  Speaker 1: So for a moment, maybe there was hope, like the
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  Speaker 1: worst was over.
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  Speaker 2: A very brief moment, it seemed like the girls had
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  Speaker 2: calmed down, the tension had eased slightly. They thought maybe
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  Speaker 2: heck Matt would survive.
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  Speaker 1: But then a mistake was made.
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  Speaker 2: A fatal one. Tragically, the elder daughter decided heck Matt
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  Speaker 2: needed cleaning up. She took her into the bathroom, but
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  Speaker 2: then left her alone just for a second, to go
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  Speaker 2: get some clean clothes.
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  Speaker 1: Just for a second. And that's when it happened again.
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  Speaker 2: Instantly, Hudah and a Beer, who had seemed calm, suddenly lunged.
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  Speaker 2: They rushed into the bathroom, locked the door behind them,
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  Speaker 2: and the assault started again. Oh no, renewed violence, more screams,
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  Speaker 2: the sound of blows, and that awful, chilling laughter again.
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  Speaker 2: But this time the intent seemed unmistakable.
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  Speaker 1: They were trying to kill her, and the family outside
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  Speaker 1: couldn't get in.
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  Speaker 2: The elder son tried desperately to break the bathroom door down,
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  Speaker 2: but he discovered the girls inside were somehow tearing ceramic
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  Speaker 2: tiles off the bathroom wall.
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  Speaker 1: Tearing tiles off the wall.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and throwing the piece at the door, trying to
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  Speaker 2: injure anyone trying to get in. That impossible strength was back,
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  Speaker 2: and then hec Matt's screams just stopped silence.
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  Speaker 1: When they finally forced the door open.
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  Speaker 2: It was too late hech Matt was dead. The reports
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  Speaker 2: say she drowned in her own blood. A Beer was
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  Speaker 2: found naked, covered from head to toe in her mother's blood.
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  Speaker 2: Hooda was just sitting nearby, silent, and.
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  Speaker 1: Their explanation when they were finally apprehended, or.
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  Speaker 2: Only explanation, was that they had quote finished her off
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  Speaker 2: from the gin that was upon her. They believed they
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  Speaker 2: were killing the gin, not their mother.
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  Speaker 1: Unbelievable. So the investigation starts.
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  Speaker 2: What happens then, well, it immediately runs into this wall
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  Speaker 2: of contradiction, right spiritual claims versus physical reality. In the
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: interrogation room, a Beer was reportedly still incredibly violent. She
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: even tried to choke Hudah, presumably to stop her from talking.
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  Speaker 1: Both girls and up being hospitalized.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and after Huda had recovered somewhat, she claims she's
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: complete amnesia about the entire event. Said it felt like
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: she had just woken up from a long sleep. Didn't
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: remember anything about the attack, But then.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: She mentioned someone else, didn't she a neighbor exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Whodah points the finger at a neighbor named Piza. She
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  Speaker 2: claimed Fiza had threatened them, threatened revenge for something.
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  Speaker 1: Pisa, who was she.
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  Speaker 2: Apparently, Fisa was also known in the building, and interestingly,
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  Speaker 2: she was also believed by some to be afflicted by
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Jin or involved in sorcery herself. There was a strained
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: relationship there. A beer used to read the Quran to Pisa,
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  Speaker 2: supposedly to help calm her.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so there's a connection. What was the threat about?
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  Speaker 2: This is where it's really murky. Hudah claimed that after
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  Speaker 2: some kind of fight or disagreement between Pisa and the sisters,
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  Speaker 2: Fiza made a very specific, powerful threat.
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  Speaker 1: What did she say?
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  Speaker 2: She supposedly told them that that if Houdah and Abir
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: ever reveal their secrets, and we still have no idea
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  Speaker 2: what these secrets were, Piza would inflict blindness on both
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  Speaker 2: of them for seven years.
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  Speaker 1: Blindness for seven years. That's very specific, it is.
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  Speaker 2: And crucially, Houdah then claimed that during the entire duration
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  Speaker 2: of the attack on her mother, she felt like she
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: couldn't see or feel anything, as if she was blind
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  Speaker 2: and numb, directly linking her experience back to Phiza's threat.
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  Speaker 3: So the family immediately suspected Fiza absolutely abdull disease, and
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  Speaker 3: the older siblings accused Phiza of using black magic of
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  Speaker 3: somehow controlling the girls, forcing them to commit the murder,
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  Speaker 3: which must.
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  Speaker 1: Have put the police in an impossible position. How do
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: you investigate a black magic murder plot?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? They did investigate Phiza thoroughly, but ultimately they found
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: no concrete evidence, nothing legally admissible to link her directly
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  Speaker 2: to Heckmat's murder. All they had was the family's accusation
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  Speaker 2: and Houdah's testimony about the threat and her state during
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  Speaker 2: the attack, and.
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  Speaker 1: The SECRETI a threaten them over It remains completely unknown,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: buried forever.
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  Speaker 2: It seems neither a beard nor who to ever spoke
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  Speaker 2: of it again, after who to mention the threat.
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  Speaker 1: So when you try to make sense of all this
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  Speaker 1: for you, the listener, where does it leave us? The
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: facts seem to contradict each other they really do.
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  Speaker 2: You have the forensic evidence. The autopsy apparently suggested Heckmatt
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: suffered severe internal hemorrhaging early on, consistent with powerful blows
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  Speaker 2: from bare hands that seems to support the witness accounts
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  Speaker 2: of that unnatural superhuman strength. The physical evidence points towards
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: something extraordinary.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: But then you have the spiritual context, the family's belief
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: in jin the healer's diagnosis, the strange phenomena like fires,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the Gulf dialect a beer's predictions.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Right, you have these two narratives running parallel. One is
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: a brutal matricide, possibly driven by some hidden family's secret
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: or mental illness. The other is a story of external
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: control of possession by a malicious entity, perhaps orchestrated by
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Faiza using sorcery which enabled the crime and wipe the
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: perpetrator's memories.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: So, after more than thirty years, after hearing from the daughters,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the father, the neighbor, attef, the niece, emon, that central
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: question just hangs there unanswered.
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  Speaker 2: It really does. Was it murder or was it something else?
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Science struggles with cases like this where the claims involve
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: forces it can't easily measure or disprove, And that.
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  Speaker 1: Leaves us with a final thought for you to consider.
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  Speaker 1: If the only explanation that people involved can give is
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that some outside force made them destroy the person they
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: loved most, and there's even some physical evidence, like the
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: extreme strength that seems to define normal explanation, how do
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: you even begin to assign responsibility
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: What happens in the eyes of justice, or even just
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: in our understanding when a horrific crime seems to lack
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: any logical human motive, and when the secret that might
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: have explained it all remains locked away forever