Ex-wife of former landlord testifies in Plainfield Township hate crime murder trial

The ex-wife of a former Plainfield Township landlord on trial for the hate crimes murder of a Muslim child said he was withdrawn, quiet and fearful that his tenant’s friends would harm him in the wake of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Mary Connor, formerly Mary Czuba, was called by prosecutors on Wednesday to testify in their case against Joseph Czuba, 73, who is charged with the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of Wadee’s mother, Hanan Shaheen, a Muslim woman from Jerusalem.

Shaheen and her son were tenants at Czuba’s residence between 2021 and 2023. Prosecutors said Czuba was worried the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel “was going to come to his doorstep.”

Prosecutors said Czuba attacked Shaheen and killed Wadee based on their Islamic faith.

Connor was the last witness called on the second day of Czuba’s trial. She ended her 30-year marriage to Czuba following his arrest on charges of murder, attempted murder and hate crime.

“I never thought anything like this could happen,” Connor said.

Connor said she was at her job on the morning Wadee was killed and his mother attacked.

In court filings, prosecutors said Connor told police that Czuba regularly listened to conservative talk radio but that did not come up in her testimony on Wednesday.

Connor and Czuba are both named as defendants in an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit filed by attorneys for Shaheen in Will County court.

Shaheen’s lawsuit accused Connor of failing to warn her that Czuba posed a risk of harm to her and her son.

Connor said before Shaheen and her son moved into the Czuba residence as tenants, she and Czuba learned that Shaheen was a Muslim of Palestinian descent.

That knowledge had no impact on the decision to allow Shaheen and her child to stay at the residence, Connor said.

Connor said Czuba is Catholic and the two regularly attended church. She said she never saw Czuba express any hatred towards others based on their religion or ethnicity during their marriage.

Shaheen and Wadee were “very good” tenants, Connor said. Their stay at the residence was a positive experience for two years and Shaheen was “very polite, very loving and very kind,” she said.

During that time, Connor said she heard of how Czuba was concerned about Wadee getting too close to a roadway and wanted to pull him away. Czuba would also get items for Wadee such as a blow-up pool, toys and sports equipment, she said.

Connor said she never saw any arguments or altercations between Czuba and Shaheen.

That all changed on Oct. 10, 2023, when Czuba told Connor, “Mary, I feel like Hanan needs to move,” according to Connor’s testimony. She said she asked him why.

Connor said Czuba asked her if she knows what happened in Israel. Connor said her ex-husband told her that Shaheen’s friends could come to their residence and harm them.

But Connor said she told Czuba that Shaheen never had guests over. Yet Czuba felt their lives might be in danger, she said.

“I was angry that he was even asking [Shaheen] to move,” Connor said.

Connor said she told Czuba that they needed to provide Shaheen a written 30-day notice according to their lease agreement.

“I didn’t want [Shaheen] to move,” Connor said.

Connor said at some point, Czuba was concerned about a “Day of Jihad” occurring on Oct. 13, 2023. His fear of a banking system crash led him to take $1,000 out of the bank, she said.

“He was quiet that week,” Connor said.

She also described him as “withdrawn” during the week that ended with Wadee’s death.

Czuba “can fix anything” yet he didn’t want to immediately fix the thermostat at their residence on Oct. 13, 2023, Connor said. The house temperature was cold as a result, she said.

Connor said Czuba did not tell her of any plan to get Shaheen out of the residence or a plan of taking violent action against her.