A jury has been selected for the trial of a Plainfield landlord accused of attacking a Palestinian American woman and killing her 6-year-old son.
Joseph Czuba, 73, is charged with stabbing his tenant Hanan Shaheen, and her 6-year-old son, Wadee Al Fayoumi, killing the boy, after becoming radicalized by conservative commentary around the war in Gaza.
Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime.
His trial began Monday at Will County Courthouse with the selection of 12 jurors and three alternate jurors. Czuba appeared in court, alongside his attorneys, and spoke once greeting potential jurors with a “good morning.”
Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak expects the trial to last the rest of the week. Court will resume at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday with opening statements.
In October 2023, Czuba became increasingly paranoid about the war in Gaza after listening to commentary on conservative talk radio, according to Will County prosecutors.
His wife told detectives that Czuba “believed he was in danger and [his tenant, Shaheen] was going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” prosecutors said in earlier hearings.
He was also worried about a “national day of jihad” on Oct. 13 and allegedly told his wife that if nothing happened that day it would happen the next, without any further specifications, according to prosecutors.
On Oct. 14, 2023, Czuba allegedly knocked on the door to the family’s unit and began arguing with Shaheen about the Middle East, then allegedly stabbed her in the head and body, according to prosecutors.
Shaheen locked herself in a bathroom with a phone, according to prosecutors, but was unable to bring her son with her. She called 911 and told a dispatcher that “the landlord is killing her baby with a knife,” prosecutors said.
Officers arrived and found the boy lying shirtless on a bed, prosecutors said.
He had been stabbed 26 times, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.
Czuba has remained in jail pending trial.