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The Al-Qanater Family Massacre: How Egypt’s Psychopathic Son Staged a Gang Hit and Walked Free · Crime Night

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep Dive. Today we're going into a
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: really a chillingly calculated story. It set back in two
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: thousand and one in Al Kanadra, al Qaria, Egypt, a
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  Speaker 1: place you'd think was pretty quiet, but this case involves
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  Speaker 1: the annihilation of an entire family, and the well killer
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  Speaker 1: was hiding right there using grief like a shield.
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  Speaker 2: It really is a landmark case. I mean, not just
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  Speaker 2: because it was so brutal, but the psychological complexity of
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: the crime itself is staggering. When the police first arrived
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  Speaker 2: at the Ibraham family home, they were absolutely convinced, you know,
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  Speaker 2: that they were dealing with some kind of ruthless gang.
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  Speaker 2: They were chasing shadows basically, while the actual killer was
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  Speaker 2: practically giving them directions.
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  Speaker 1: So let's set the scene. It's early morning. Mezeni's the
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  Speaker 1: seventeen year old middle son. He's coming back home. He's
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  Speaker 1: supposed to have stayed overnight at his grandmother's, but he
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  Speaker 1: starts the day with this sense of dread building up.
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  Speaker 1: His aunt. She had apparently been trying to call his mother,
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  Speaker 1: Naraman for hours, no answer.
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  Speaker 2: The house itself tight from the inside, dark windows, just quiet,
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  Speaker 2: unnaturally quiet, which is never.
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  Speaker 1: A good sign.
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  Speaker 2: No, and Mason's actions right then are they're really crucial
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  Speaker 2: to how this whole thing unfolds. He insists on getting
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  Speaker 2: a ladder, borrows one from a neighbor mechanic. I think, yeah,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: wooden ladder right to climb up to the first floor
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  Speaker 2: apartment window. It shows this almost frantic need to be
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  Speaker 2: the one who you know, finds whatever's inside.
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  Speaker 1: So he climbs up, manages to get the window open,
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  Speaker 1: and well, what he sees just sends him over the edge,
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  Speaker 1: completely hysterically.
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  Speaker 2: Understandably, the horror in that living room, it causes him
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  Speaker 2: to just collapse. Neighbors hear the commotion, they're the ones
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  Speaker 2: who end up calling the police.
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  Speaker 1: And the scene inside just devastating.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Four family members, all dead, all found together in
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  Speaker 2: the living room, most in Ibrahim the father, who was
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  Speaker 2: a real estate broker, stabbed twice.
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  Speaker 1: Then Neriman the mother, she was a prison guard. A
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  Speaker 1: female prison guard also stabbed twice.
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  Speaker 2: Elder son Mohammed just nineteen, he had three stab wounds,
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  Speaker 2: and the youngest mom do only eleven years old. They
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  Speaker 2: called him bundock. He had multiple stab wounds, suggesting a
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  Speaker 2: particular kind of rage directed at him.
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  Speaker 1: Four people, one family, killed like that in the same room.
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  Speaker 1: The police's first theory it had to wrestle with that
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  Speaker 1: bright How is that even possible for one person?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? That's the fascinating part, the initial forensic assessment. For
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  Speaker 2: four people, two adults, two almost adults to be killed
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  Speaker 2: like that in one place while they were clearly awakened together,
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  Speaker 2: I mean that takes serious, four serious coordination. The chances
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  Speaker 2: of just one person pulling that off almost zero. So
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  Speaker 2: the initial logical, frankly very convincing idea was multiple attackers.
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  Speaker 1: A team, and the physical evidence or lack thereof, seemed
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  Speaker 1: to point away from a simple robbery.
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  Speaker 2: Too totally no forced entry, signs anywhere, doors, windows all secure,
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  Speaker 2: and crucially nothing was taken valuable as gold, electronics, cash
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  Speaker 2: all still there.
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  Speaker 1: So not robbery.
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  Speaker 2: Definitely not robbery, Yeah, which led them straight to revenge.
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  Speaker 2: This had to be personal, planned, high stakes and given
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  Speaker 2: the presumed force needed, they assumed it was a team job,
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  Speaker 2: maybe even professionals. That theory was strong and it drove
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  Speaker 2: everything in that first week.
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  Speaker 1: And who pours fuel on that fire. Mazon, the sole survivor,
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  Speaker 1: despite being apparently overcome with grief, he gives the police
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  Speaker 1: this bombshell piece of information. He says, the night before,
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  Speaker 1: around eleven pm, he ran into four men in a
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  Speaker 1: white micro bus and they asked for his father.
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  Speaker 2: And he claims he led them right to the house
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  Speaker 2: then left for his grandmothers.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: That testimony was gold dust for the gang theory team
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  Speaker 2: won immediately through massive resources at finding this white microbus
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  Speaker 2: showing Mazon photos vehicles, endless lineups.
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  Speaker 1: But he couldn't identify any of them, not.
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  Speaker 2: A single one. Meanwhile, Team two is digging deep into
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  Speaker 2: the victims' lives looking for enemies.
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  Speaker 1: And both parents had potentially dangerous jobs. Mosen, the real
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  Speaker 1: estate broker land deals by disputes, things.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Can get nasty, right and Narreman the mother Asgyna, a
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  Speaker 2: female guard at the main alcanat Ter prison that means
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  Speaker 2: daily contact with inmates. They're families, lots of potential for grudges.
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  Speaker 1: So investigators are tearing apart Moses's deals looking into every inmate.
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  Speaker 2: Narramen might a crossed for days, but nothing, Every lead
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  Speaker 2: just dried up. No grudge seemed big enough, no debts
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  Speaker 2: serious enough, No conflict that explained wiping out entire family
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  Speaker 2: with a supposed four man hit squad. They hit a
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  Speaker 2: total brick wall, and they started to seriously question that
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  Speaker 2: microbus story.
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  Speaker 1: So while one team chases a ghost vehicle and another
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  Speaker 1: digs through old conflicts, Team three, this forensics unit, they
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  Speaker 1: go back back to the house, quietly searching not for
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  Speaker 1: what was missing, but for anything left behind.
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  Speaker 2: And that's the turning point. They find this tiny thing
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  Speaker 2: easily missed an old medical prescription, a Roshita dated nineteen
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  Speaker 2: ninety three.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, eight years old.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, most people would just ignore it, but forensics noticed
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  Speaker 2: the name and the doctor's note on it, a recommendation
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  Speaker 2: to transfer Mason too Alabash, a hospital for neuropsychiatric diseases.
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  Speaker 1: Suddenly, this whole massive investigation focused on gangs and revenge
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  Speaker 1: just pivots. It shrinks down to focus entirely on the
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  Speaker 1: sole survivor, the grieving sun.
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  Speaker 2: Everything changed in that moment. It all came down to
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  Speaker 2: Mason's psychological past.
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  Speaker 1: So they tracked down the psychiatrists who wrote it. Doctor
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  Speaker 1: Samir Hasny.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and doctor Hasney confirms it. Mason wasn't just troubled,
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  Speaker 2: He was a long term patient diagnosed not with a
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  Speaker 2: typical mental illness, but with a personality disorder psychopathy.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, let's pause there, because that distinction is absolutely crucial
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  Speaker 1: to understanding this case, isn't it. We often mix up
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  Speaker 1: mental illness and personality disorders like psychopathy. If he was psychopathic,
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  Speaker 1: why wasn't he considered insane or out of control?
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  Speaker 2: That is the critical difference. Severe mental illness like psychosis,
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  Speaker 2: often involves losing touch with reality, maybe losing control over
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  Speaker 2: your actions. But psychopathy, it's different. It's a personality disorder,
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  Speaker 2: meaning meaning the person is usually fully aware of reality.
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  Speaker 2: They can function, plan, manipulate, but they operate with unprovoked aggression,
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  Speaker 2: a tendency towards violence, and this profound, defining lack of remorse, empathy,
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  Speaker 2: or guilt. Mason knew exactly what he was doing.
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  Speaker 1: He was in control, and doctor Halsey's descriptions of Mazon
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  Speaker 1: as a child, they're terrifying. They paint a picture of
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  Speaker 1: this complete lack of well humanity.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely Nam and the mother had apparently complained to the
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  Speaker 2: doctor frequently about Mason's extreme sadism, like what like enjoying
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  Speaker 2: strangling and decapitating animals, taking them down to the nile
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  Speaker 2: just to drown them. This isn't just you know, kids
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  Speaker 2: being cruel, This is finding pleasure and causing suffering.
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  Speaker 1: And there was more. Wasn't there violence towards his siblings?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, at just three years old, he apparently struck his
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  Speaker 2: younger brothers so violently he fractured the boy's rib and
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  Speaker 2: showed zero guilt, no concern at all.
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  Speaker 1: The family must have been living in fear. They even
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  Speaker 1: adopted a daughter, Koulud in ninety six.
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  Speaker 2: They did, but Mason repeatedly tried to harm her. It
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  Speaker 2: got so bad Merriman had to send Kulod away to
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  Speaker 2: live with her own mother just to keep the girl safe.
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  Speaker 3: And that weird fixation the poultry shop, right, He insisted
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  Speaker 3: on working there, not just any job, but specifically so
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  Speaker 3: he could be the one to slaughter the chickens with
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  Speaker 3: a knife, even when it wasn't his job.
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  Speaker 2: It points to this deep, dark obsession with the act
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  Speaker 2: of killing itself.
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  Speaker 1: So the family knew something was deeply wrong. Doctor Hasney
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  Speaker 1: wrote the transfer letter to the psychiatric hospital, but it
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  Speaker 1: never happened.
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  Speaker 2: No Mason found the letter, tore it up, and the parents,
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  Speaker 2: while they were trapped unable to control him, probably terrified
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  Speaker 2: of making things worse, They just let the chance for
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  Speaker 2: proper interventions slip away.
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  Speaker 1: The fact he found it and destroyed it, that shows
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  Speaker 1: how aware.
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  Speaker 2: He was exactly. It proves that high functioning aspect. He
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  Speaker 2: knew what hospitalization meant, and he deliberately stopped it. He
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  Speaker 2: was controlling the situation even then.
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  Speaker 1: So now the police had this profile, they double check
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  Speaker 1: Mason's alibi and it falls apart completely.
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  Speaker 2: He wasn't at his grandmother's. He was out with friends,
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  Speaker 2: and crucially, he'd specifically asked them to lie for him.
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  Speaker 1: What was his cover story to them.
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  Speaker 2: That he'd had a fight with his family and just
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  Speaker 2: needed them to say he'd been with them all night.
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  Speaker 1: Wow? Okay, So they confront him with the medical history,
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  Speaker 1: the broken alibi, and.
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  Speaker 2: He confesses just like that. But it's the way he
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  Speaker 2: confesses that confirms the psychopathy diagnosis. Chillingly, he was totally relaxed, calm,
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  Speaker 2: talking about massacring his family with this ease, even laughing
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  Speaker 2: at points. Apparently absolutely zero remorse, zero regret.
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  Speaker 1: So what was the motive? Just hatred?
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  Speaker 2: Hatred and greed. Essentially, he felt his family favored his
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  Speaker 2: siblings over him, even though the evidence suggests they were
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  Speaker 2: probably bending over backward because of his issues, and he
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  Speaker 2: wanted the inheritance, all of it.
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  Speaker 1: And this wasn't spontaneous. He'd planned it.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, he admitted he'd planned it at least three
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  Speaker 2: times before it actually happened. He was just waiting for
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  Speaker 2: the right moment and the weapon meticulous preparation. He saw
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  Speaker 2: a new knife in the house, took it out secretly,
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  Speaker 2: got it professionally sharpened to make a dead layer, then
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  Speaker 2: brought it back and hid it under his mattress, just waiting.
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  Speaker 1: And that moment came around four am.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, he waited until his mother Nerriman got up for
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  Speaker 2: the Froger prayer. While she was actually prostrating, bowing down
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  Speaker 2: in prayer, he took the knife and stabbed her twice,
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  Speaker 2: killed her right there.
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  Speaker 1: His father must have heard.
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  Speaker 2: Mosen ran out when he heard the screams. Mason attacked
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  Speaker 2: him immediately, overbowered him, stabbed him twice, and the brothers.
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  Speaker 2: The noise woke them up. Mason heard Bondoc, the younger one,
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  Speaker 2: trying to wake up Mohammed.
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  Speaker 1: What did Mazon do?
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  Speaker 2: He went to their door, hid the knife behind his
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  Speaker 2: back and calmly, calmly, asked Mohammed to come out and
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  Speaker 2: see what the noise.
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  Speaker 1: Was about, luring him out.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly as soon as Mohammed stepped out of the room,
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  Speaker 2: Mason lunged, stabbed him repeatedly until he was dead.
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  Speaker 1: Leaving just the little one bond Doc eleven years.
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  Speaker 2: Old, and what happened next is maybe the most disturbing
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  Speaker 2: part of the whole thing. Bondoc is terrified, obviously weeping.
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  Speaker 2: He's just seen his brother murdered. Mason looks at him
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  Speaker 2: and smiles, tells him, don't be afraid, come here, I
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  Speaker 2: won't hurt you. Unbelievable, but Bondoc instinctively tries to run
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  Speaker 2: towards the apartment door, the only escape. Mason blocks him
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  Speaker 2: and stabs him twice chest and abdomen, kills him right there.
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  Speaker 1: And after all that, the staging yes.
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  Speaker 2: The final proof of his calculated mind. He confessed that
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  Speaker 2: the whole reason he killed them all in the living
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  Speaker 2: room was specifically to create the impression they were all
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  Speaker 2: gathered together, maybe receiving visitors.
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  Speaker 1: It's four men in the microvice.
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  Speaker 2: Precisely, he spent those moments after the killings arranging the
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  Speaker 2: scene to perfectly fit the lie. He was about to
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  Speaker 2: tell the police, diverting all possible suspicion before he ever
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  Speaker 2: raised the alarm.
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  Speaker 1: It was an almost perfect misdirection foiled by a single
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  Speaker 1: piece of old paper.
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  Speaker 2: Incredible, isn't it. So the case goes to court and
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  Speaker 2: the key issue is his mental state.
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  Speaker 1: Right psychopathy versus legal.
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  Speaker 2: Insanity, and the courts made a clear distinction. They determined
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  Speaker 2: that despite the personality disorder, Mason was mentally sound. He
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  Speaker 2: knew right from wrong, He was capable of controlling his actions. Therefore,
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  Speaker 2: he was legally irresponsible good He.
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  Speaker 1: Was seventeen a minor in two thousand and.
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  Speaker 2: One, which meant he avoided the death penalty under Egyptian
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  Speaker 2: law at the time. Instead, he was sentenced to fifteen
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  Speaker 2: years in prison.
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  Speaker 1: Fifteen years for wiping out his entire family.
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  Speaker 2: And the image from the courtroom when that sentence was
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  Speaker 2: handed down it speaks volumes what happened. Mason was seen smiling, laughing,
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  Speaker 2: even with this cold composure, as if he'd won, as
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: if he was triumphant that he'd done it and essentially
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  Speaker 2: gotten away with it. Relatively speaking, it tells you everything
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  Speaker 2: about the complete absence of a moral compass.
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  Speaker 1: So given that fifteen year sentence started in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and one. He's likely out by now, he served his time.
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  Speaker 2: That's the reality which forces us really to think about
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  Speaker 2: what this case teaches us. It's about looking past simple
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  Speaker 2: ideas of crazy and understanding the specific danger of personality
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: disorders where awareness and planning ability remain fully intact, but
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  Speaker 2: empathy is just gone.
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  Speaker 1: The key takeaway here is how that high functioning psychopathy
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  Speaker 1: allowed for such intricate planning, brutal execution, and that sophisticated
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  Speaker 1: cover up, all without any emotional sign any league he
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  Speaker 1: played the system initially.
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  Speaker 2: He really did manipulated that initial investigation perfectly.
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  Speaker 1: So what does this all mean for you listening? You
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  Speaker 1: have an individual who planned and executed this horrific crime
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  Speaker 1: with demonstrated sadism and absolutely zero remorse. He then successfully
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  Speaker 1: staged the scene, misled police, and because of his age
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  Speaker 1: at the time, received a sentence that means he's likely
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: back in society today. The really provocative question this case
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  Speaker 1: leads us grappling with is what are the implications for
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  Speaker 1: society and when someone with this specific dangerous psychological makeup,
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  Speaker 1: someone who has already proven capable of such profound violence,
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  Speaker 1: and criminal cunning serves their time and is released. What
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  Speaker 1: happens next, that's something heavy to consider after this deep dive.