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The Eid Massacre: When Trust Becomes a Weapon in Talwana · Crime Night

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's transport ourselves somewhere. Imagine stepping into the sun
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: drenched quiet of Talwana. It's a village in Minufia, Egypt,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: right in the Nile Delta, a.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Very fertile agricultural region.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Exactly, and the date is June thirteenth, twenty twenty five.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: The morning air usually bustling, you know, with daily life,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: it just hangs heavy.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Still. Something feels off.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, something's wrong for one neighbor, especially her friend, Mahassen,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: a woman everyone loves well. She hasn't been seen for
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: two days, which is unusual for her, very her morning chats,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: just her general presence around the village gone. So this friend,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: she starts to feel this growing unease. She decides she
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: has to check understandable. She walks that familiar path to
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the apartment Mahassan shared with her husband, Mosen. But today
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: it just feels different, heavy, And as she gets to
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the door, she notices something. It's cracked open just a
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: little bit. Oh, that's immediately unsettling, right, It's this awful
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: mix of hesitation and worry. She knocks and knocks it silence,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: just silence. That cold dread starts creeping in she pushes
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the door opened just a bit more steps inside, the
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: air is thick still, and then she sees it in
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: discovery in the living room, Mahasan, motionless, drenched in blood,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: her head terribly injured.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Oh god.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: The site just freezes her, pure paralyzing horror. But it's
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: not over. As she stumbles back, gasping, her eyes land
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: on another body, Moson in the hallway between the bathroom
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and kitchen, killed just as brutally, also covered in blood,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: his head crushed, unrecognizable, unimaginable violence. The scream that comes
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: next just tears through the morning. Quiet neighbors come running,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: then the police arrive quickly, and that sets up our
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: central question for this deep dive. Who could possibly do this?
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Who could inflict such savagery onto of the kindest, most
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: beloved people in their whole community.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: It's absolutely devastating, and the impact on a village like Talwana.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: It's hard to overstate this case. Really, it really cuts
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: to the heart of trust in close knit communities.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: It shows how that very trust, the thing that holds
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: everything together, can become a weapon. It makes you think,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: you know what blind spots does that kind of deep affection.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Create that's a really chilling point. To even start to
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: understand the depth of this shock, we need to go back,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: way back, over forty years. We need to understand who
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Mosen and Mahassen actually were.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Their story.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, picture this young man Moson, known for being kind, serious,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: He meets Mahasen equally compassionate, beautiful, and bam, there's this
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: immediate connection.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Love at first sight.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Almost seems like it mutual admiration definitely. Mosen was doing well,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: a respectable government job. He gets an offer to move
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to Tulwana.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Which was far from Mahassan's family, right, but.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: She was so convinced by him, by their connection, she
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: made this huge decision, married him, moved away from her family,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: basically put all her trust in their future together.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: And that trust was test did early on, wasn't it.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: There was a significant challenge they faced.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: There was they found out they couldn't have children.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Which in many societies, especially then, could be immense pressure,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: sometimes even grounds for separation.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately, absolutely, but for Mosen and Mahassan it actually seemed
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to make their bond stronger. They made this unwavering choice
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: stay together, find strength in each other.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: That kind of commitment, especially against those societal pressures. It's
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: really quite rare and beautiful in a way. It clearly
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: laid the groundwork for how they connected with everyone else
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: later on.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Totally. It's like because they didn't have their own children,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: they sort of opened their arms to the whole community.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Their home became this.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Hub, an open door policy.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: You mentioned exactly, their money, their gold, even appliances. They
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: didn't hoarde things. They saw it all as enjoyments of
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: life meant to be shared, used to help people out.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: That's incredible generosity.
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  Speaker 1: It really was young people, neighbors, anyone needing advice or
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: help that go to Mosen and Mahassen gnuinely thought of
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: them as like extra parents or siblings. They truly felt,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: you know, that God had filled people's hearts with love
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: for them.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: And this deep community connection, this trust they built over decades.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: That's what makes what happened next just so profoundly shocking.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Their openness, the warmth they offered everyone, it tragically became
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: their vulnerability.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: It's a paradox, isn't it. The stronger the trust, maybe
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: the harder it is to imagine betrayal from within that circle.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Exactly right, even after Mosen retired, their life was just peaceful, routine,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: wake up early, go shopping together. Mahassen would have her
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: daily chats with that same neighbor.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Friends, the one who found them.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just this calm rhythm, a life that couldn't be
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: more different from the horror that was coming. Yeah, so
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: let's jump back to June thirteenth, twenty twenty five. That
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: morning outside their apartment. It's chaos, but a specific kind
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: of chaos. A huge crowd of residents, all just heartbroken.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Their grief was palpable. Right, there's immediate proof for the
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: police arriving just how loved this couple was. These weren't
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: just anonymous victims. They were the heart of Talwana.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: For the police, though, the scene itself presented huge challenges
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: right away, Oh absolutely. First off, the severe head trauma
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: made identifying them very difficult. That's always a major hurdle.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: And in a small, tight knit village like that, investigators
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: face you need pressures too, like what, well, you're not
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: just dealing with a crime scene, You're dealing with a
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: traumatized community. Everyone knows everyone. Their observations are vital, but
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: they can also be clouded by shock. Grief, maybe even assumptions.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: So it took the neighbors confirmations, tearful ones, I imagine,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: and then finding their ID cards to be absolutely certain
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: it was Mosen and Mahasan precisely. Okay. So the crime
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: scene team gets to work. What did they find? Initially?
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Any leads jump out?
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Well, one critical detail emerged almost immediately. No signs of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: force entry, not on the door, not on the windows.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Right, So what does that tell investigators? Straight away?
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: It points very strongly towards the perpetrators being known the victims,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: someone most Sinne Mahasen trusted enough to let inside willingly.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, So that narrows it down from a random attack.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: But you mentioned their open door policy exactly.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: That created the next challenge. They found numerous fingerprints all
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: over the apartment. Normally that's great news here, but here,
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: because so many people were constantly in and out, neighbors,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: young people seeking advice, friends, it became incredibly difficult to
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: distinguish between innocent visitor prints and the prints of the killers.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: And you add to that it's a rural village. Not
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: many CCTV cameras around back then, I'm guessing very.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Few, so the police were really forced to rely on
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: thorough investigation, witness statements carefully sifted of course, and just
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: solid old fashioned detective work.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: So the very things that made them beloved, their openness,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: their welcoming home, actually complicated the investigation into their murders.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Tragically, yes, But despite that initial complexity, a clear motive
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: did start to emerge quite quickly, which was robbery. It
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: was confirmed that a significant sum of money was missing.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Also a large amount of gold that Mahasan was known
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: to keep, Mosen's laptop was gone, and both of their
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: mobile phones.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: So murder for gain, brutal but straightforward in terms of motive.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Did the forensics add anything more?
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: They did? The forensic report confirmed the cause of death
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: for both was powerful repeated blows to the head. The
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: weapon a piece of marble. Yes, marble dust was found
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: on the victims and in the blood pools. But what's
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: really chilling here is the level of violence, the sheer force,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: the repetition of the blows. It indicated a clear, horrifying
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: intent to kill, not just to knock them out or
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: stop them resisting during a robbery.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: This wasn't something that just escalated.
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  Speaker 2: Doesn't seem like it. This felt like a determined, brutal
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: attack against two elderly people eighty two and seventy four
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  Speaker 2: years old. It speaks volumes about the mindset of the
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: killer or killers, rage or maybe desperation.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Okay, so robbery is the motive. The weapon is identified.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: They know entry wasn't forced, but who weeks start passing, right, Yeah,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: twenty long days go by and frustration is mounting in Tawana.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: You can imagine people are anxious, constantly asking the police
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: any news if you found them. It must have felt
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: like the trail's going cold.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: A very difficult time for everyone involved. The pressure on
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: the investigators would have been immense.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: But then there's a shift, a turning point, and it
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: comes from someone unexpected, or rather from a memory. She
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: initially dismissed the neighbor, the one who found them, the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: very same one, still deeply in shock, obviously, but now
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: something clicks, a detail she hadn't thought was important at
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: the time.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: It's fascinating how that happens in investigations. The human mind
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: under stress, it filters things. Sometimes crucial details only surface
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: later when things are a bit calmer.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, our own biases shock. They can obscure things. So
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: what did she remember?
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: She remembered Mahassen had a distant relative, a young man
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: to seven years old named.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Mamod Okay, and what was known about ma Mood.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Well, from the community's point of view, My Mood was
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: respectable and alis R graduate, which carries weight, you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: religious and academic respect. He had a decent job, seemed
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: financially stable, came from a good family.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: So not someone who would typically be on anyone's radar
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: for something.
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  Speaker 2: Like this exactly, which is why the neighbor hadn't mentioned
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: him initially. She likely just couldn't fathom him being involved.
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  Speaker 2: Her belief in his good character kind of shielded him initially.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: But what was the specific detail she recalled now?
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  Speaker 2: She remembered that two days before the bodies were discovered,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: so June eleventh, twenty twenty five, which was actually the
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: first day of the.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Ad holiday Okay holiday, right, she.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Saw my Mood along with a friend go up to
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Mosen in Mahassen's apartment, stayed for just a short while,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: then they left, and critically, My Mood hadn't been seen
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: around the village since that day.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Hmmm, short visit on d then disappears. That's notable.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: It was enough enough for the police to start looking
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: into a mood. They initially confirmed his background, recently married,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: outwardly stable life, good reputation. Nothing seemed immediately amiss.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: But they kept digging.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: They kept digging, and as they looked closer, peeling back
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: the layers of that respectable facade, they uncovered something shocking,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: a hidden truth.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Okay, what was it?
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Mamood was secretly battling a drug addiction.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Wow, okay, and this wasn't known.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Completely unknown, not to his family, not to the community
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: that held him in you know, relatively high regard.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: That changes everything, It changes absolutely everything.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: It's devastating. But it's off of the key that unlocks
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: these seemingly inexplicable crimes. Mamod's hidden struggle, despite his education,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: his family. It speaks to that immense pressure to keep
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: up appearances, especially in communities where honor is paramount.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: So addiction becomes this hidden driver, an.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Incredibly powerful one. The need for money to fund an addiction.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: It can just warp a person. It overrides everything, reason, empathy,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: family ties. It pushes people to desperate acts they'd never
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: normally can. It basically strips away their moral compass, even
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: against people they supposedly care about.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: And Mamood he broke down quickly.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, once apprehended, his composure crumbled. The distress was obvious,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: he confessed almost immediately.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: So what was his plan? How did it all unfold?
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: According to him, he was chillingly calculated. He was desperate
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: for drug money. He knew he couldn't take it from
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: his own family they'd noticed right away.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: But Mosen and Mahassen, he.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Knew they were his relatives, elderly and likely had cash
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: and gold in the apartment. They became his target.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: And the weapon the marble.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: He chose it beforehand, a heavy piece. He even enlisted
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: a friend, promising him a cut to buy drugs.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: With God and the timing d He chose.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: The first day of ad deliberately thinking it was a holiday,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: less vigilance maybe less suspicion if he visited family. He
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: banked on the festive atmosphere providing cover.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Okay walk us through the events of June eleventh based
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: on his confession.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Mamod and his friend arrive at the apartment. Mahasson opens
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: the door. She knows Mamood trusts him lets them in.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: No hesitation from her side, none but.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Mamod without a word, apparently without hesitation, he strikes her
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: repeatedly with that piece of marble. She falls right there
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: in the living room.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, Mosen must have heard.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: He did. Mosen hears the commotion rushes out from another room.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: He sees what's happening to his wife, his instinct defend her.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: He grabs a knie from the kitchen.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: A desperate attempt, a.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Desperate, brave attempt. But Mamood was faster or stronger. He
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: turns on Moson immediately strikes him again and again with
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: the same marble piece. There in the hallway, both of
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: them just like that, both killed brutally, and after Mamood
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: just closed the apartment door. Then he and his friends
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: steal the money, the gold, the laptop, the phones, everything they.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Came for, and leaving the door Ajar, that was deliberate.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: According to his confession, Yes, he left it slightly open intentionally,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: why to ensure the bodies would eventually be found, but
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: not too soon, giving them time.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Time to get away hide the loot exactly well.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Mood's composure afterwards is maybe the most chilling part. He
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: goes down, hides the stolen items on his own rooftop,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: and then he goes about celebrating ed like nothing happened,
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: utterly confident he wouldn't be suspected.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: It's sickening. The betrayal is just absolute.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: It is, and the irony, as you said earlier, is
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: just gut wrenching. Moss In and Mahassen, they were known
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: for their generosity. They probably would have given my Mood
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: money if he just asked.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: They loved him, they saw him as family.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: But the addition, it completely taken over. It erased reason,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: erased empathy, erased that family bond. It turned him into
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: someone capable of this horror against the very people who
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: likely would have helped him.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: This whole story, their lives, the community's trust ending like this,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: it's a profound tragedy. It really forces you to think
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: about addiction, about trust, about what can hide behind a
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: familiar face.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, if you zoom out, look at the bigger picture here,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: this isn't just a story about one terrible crime in
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: one village. It's a stark reminder, isn't it that even
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the strongest bonds, love, family, community, trust, they can be
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: shattered by these insidious forces like addiction. Yeah, it really
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: compels you to consider not just who you show kindness to,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: but also the hidden battles people might be fighting, battles
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: you can't see, and how those struggles can twist someone,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: even someone you know, someone you trust, into causing unimaginable harm.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: The true cost of addiction. It ripples outwards, doesn't it,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: affecting everyone.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: It impact everyone, tears through families, through communities, leaving devastation
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: and so many unanswered questions that linger long after the
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: crime itself is solved. It certainly leaves questions that resonate
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: far beyond Taalwana.