Jury finds former landlord guilty of Plainfield Township hate crime, murder of Muslim child

A Will County jury found a former landlord guilty of the 2023 Plainfield Township murder of and hate crime against a 6-year-old Muslim child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother.

On Friday, a jury found Joseph Czuba, 73, guilty of the murder of Wadee Alfayoumi, 6, and the attempted murder of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, 33, who were former tenants of Czuba in 2023.

Czuba also was found guilty of committing a hate crime against Shaheen and Wadee based on their Islamic faith.

Czuba attacked Shaheen with a ScubaPro knife and then killed her son by stabbing him with the same 7-inch blade 26 times, prosecutors said.

Czuba sat calmly with attorneys after the verdict was delivered. He is scheduled for a court hearing May 2 for any post-trial motions or for sentencing.

The jury’s verdict followed closing arguments, during which Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch showed photos of Shaheen and Wadee to the jury and played a police squad vehicle video in which Czuba referred to the mother and child as “infested rats.”

“He thinks they’re rats. That’s what he thinks,” Koch said of Czuba.

Koch said Czuba had referred to Shaheen as a “devil Muslim” when he attacked her and killed Wadee on Oct. 14, 2023, at his Plainfield Township residence.

“He has no appreciation for them, and that’s why he committed this hate crime,” Koch said.

Prosecutors told the jury that Czuba was motivated to commit the violent attack after becoming fearful that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel “was going to come to his doorstep.”

After viewing news coverage of that incident, Czuba wanted Shaheen and her child out of his residence because “Muslims are not welcome here,” according to Shaheen’s testimony.

Koch showed the jury the ScubaPro knife with a 7-inch blade that he said Czuba used to attack Shaheen and kill her son.

“Here it is,” Koch said while holding up the knife. “This is what was put into Wadee that day.”

Koch said Wadee’s knife wounds showed evidence that the boy was fighting for his life as he was “brutally and heinously” attacked by Czuba.

“That’s brutal. That’s heinous [and] indicative of wanton cruelty,” Koch said.

Koch played the audio of the 911 call from Shaheen, in which she tells a police dispatcher that Czuba is killing her son. Shaheen had managed to survive Czuba’s attack and flee into a bathroom to make the call.

A loud banging noise is heard in the background of the call.

“That’s this defendant trying to get into the bathroom,” Koch said.

In Czuba’s defense, attorney George Lenard mentioned Johnnie Cochran, the attorney for O.J. Simpson, and his quote about the “rush to judgment.”

Lenard’s main line of attack against the state’s case was that the police rushed to judgment in assuming Czuba was guilty, and investigators failed to test and collect certain evidence in the case.

Squad car video showed Czuba calling supporters of the Palestine Liberation Organization “evil” and “like Nazis.”

Lenard said that just because Czuba does not agree with the PLO does not mean he’s a murderer.

Lenard also told the jury that he wanted to give a “shoutout” to mothers, as they have a maternal instinct to fight to protect their children if they are in harm’s way.

Lenard said during his cross-examination of Shaheen that she wouldn’t answer any of his questions. He said it was like “trying to nail jello on a tree.”

Lenard asked why her knife wounds were “so superficial” if she was engaged in a violent struggle with Czuba and why there were no bruises on her body. Lenard also asked why Shaheen hung up one of the two phones she brought with her to the bathroom.

“You know, there’s unanswered questions here,” Lenard said.

In response, Assistant State’s Attorney Christine Vukmir asked the jury not to consider “outlandish theories” not supported by fact.

She said Lenard was “beating around the bush,” but he was basically arguing that Shaheen killed Wadee.

Vukmir said it was “ridiculous” to think Shaheen would concoct a plan to kill Wadee and frame Czuba in order to make money in a wrongful death lawsuit case.

Vukmir emphasized that the evidence overwhelmingly points to Czuba’s guilt. The jury once again was shown the large knife that prosecutors said was used to kill Wadee.

“This is what plunged into his body 26 times,” Vukmir said.