Plainfield Landlord Indicted On Murder, Hate Crime, Battery Charges

PLAINFIELD, IL — Plainfield landlord Joseph Czuba was formally indicted on eight felony charges Thursday in connection with the death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and stabbing of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, Will County court documents show.

A grand jury indicted the 71-year-old man of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of hate crime.

Police and prosecutors allege that on the morning of Oct. 14, Czuba knocked on Shaheen's bedroom door — one of the two rooms she rents in a Plainfield Township house shared by Czuba and his wife — and began arguing with her over the war between Israel and Hamas. The argument turned physical, and Czuba proceeded to stab her about a dozen times before turning on her son.

Just eight days after celebrating his sixth birthday, Wadee was stabbed 26 times and pronounced dead at a Joliet hospital, according to court documents.

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Will County prosecutors said Czuba's attack was motivated by the family's Muslim faith as a result of his grievances with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Two days after the stabbings, Czuba appeared in court before Judge Donald DeWilkins, who ordered the man be detained at the Will County jail. In making his decision, DeWilkins ruled that Czuba poses a "real and present threat to one of the victims, Ms. Shaheen, who survived this attack, but also a threat as to the community in general."

Czuba's preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 30 in Courtroom 202 in front of Judge Dave Carlson.

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