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Subscribe to RSSPolice in El Cajon, Calif., are investigating a brutal attack that left an Iraqi woman dead. KNSD-TV's Chris Chan reports.
Services at an East County mosque were held Sunday to honor an El Cajon woman who was found severely beaten inside her home with a threatening note left nearby.
Friends of Shaima Alawadi, 32, remembered a warm, loving woman who was a wonderful mother to her five children.
At the same time they are anticipating more information from investigators about the suspicious death of the Iraqi immigrant who moved in to the rental home on Skyview Street two months ago.
Alawadi was found in the dining room by her 17-year-old daughter March 21. She was transported to a local trauma center and died Saturday after being on life support for three days.
A threatening note was discovered very close to where Alawadi was found officers said. The family say they received a similar note earlier this month, however did not report it to authorities.
Police would not confirm the contents of the note however a spokesperson for the local chapter of the Counsel of American-Islamic Relations said he is concerned the beating may be a hate crime.
Iraqi woman beaten in Calif. dies; threat note left at scene
"The body was found with a note that essentially says, 'You guys are terrorists, go back home, you don't belong here.' That's the message,"said CAIR Executive Director Hanif Mohebi.
Neighbors said the family – which includes as many as five children – moved into the rented home in El Cajon about two months ago. Alawadi and her two daughters wore headscarves, according to their neighbors.
“When you add violence against woman, the loss of life of a mother on top of that and the fact that this innocent woman may have been targeted solely because of her appearance and her set of beliefs, it’s a strike not just at the Muslim community but at the humanity for all of us here in San Diego,” said family friend Kamaal Martin.
For more, visit NBCSanDiego.com
Nazanin Wahid said Alawadi was a friend to everyone at the Islamic Center of Lakeside on Mountain View Avenue because the community is close-knit and members know each other very well.
"This place holds a very special value to them because their children grew up here and they still come here, so this is their center, our center, their community, our community," said family friend Nazanin Wahid.
Based on Alawadi’s injuries and other evidence retrieved at the scene, police said this case is being investigated as a homicide.
Sunday morning flowers were seen at the porch of the Alawadi home. A cross with the words “Give Thanks to the Lord” was also seen near the front door.
On Sunday, the family was making plans to fly Alawadi's body back to Iraq. Alawadi's father is Sayed Nabeel Alawadi, a Shiite cleric in Iraq, a Muslim leader in Michigan told the Detroit Free-Press. The Iraqi government will pay for shipping expenses of the body, he said.
Hayder Al-Zayadi, a family friend, told the Free-Press that Alawadi moved to the United States in 1993 with her family and was part of a wave of Shiite Muslim refugees who fled to Michigan after Saddam Hussein cracked down on an uprising in 1991.
After living in Dearborn for a few years, she moved to the San Diego area in 1996, graduated from high school and became a housewife raising five children, Al-Zayadi said.
Thousands of people have liked a special page on Facebook calling for "One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi."
Alawadi's report has been sealed by the medical examiner per a police request.
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This sad story leaves many unanswered questions. Why was the 17 year old daughter home sleeping at 11:00 a.m. on a Wednesday? Why did she not hear her mom being attacked downstairs? The note could be a planted red herring. I saw an interview with the daughter and thought her affect was very strange. I'm hoping these details will be discussed in the news.
Other accounts had the 17 y/o daughter coming home to find the crime scene, not sleeping upstairs. Where did you see anything about her sleeping upstairs? I do agree though that her interview with the local news affiliate seemed odd for the situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrnMYg62boM
Here's a pretty good Detroit local news account. Parliamentarians in Iraq are getting involved and urging the government there to put pressure on our government to solve this case ASAP:
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/03/iraq-demanding-investigation-into-beating-death-of-iraqi-woman-in-california-74201.html
Are you serious? This murder was probably committed by her husband or one of his friends. Even the KKK doesn't leave a note behind if they want it to remain anonymous. Either someone is playing the public on their fears of "hate crimes" ( which I doubt) or this was just another honor killing. I think it is the latter.
This was from our local paper (San Diego):
The daughter told KUSI Channel 9/51 her mother had been beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron. Mohebi said the daughter had been sleeping upstairs. When she went downstairs, “it was too late and the (attacker) was gone. The sliding glass door was broken.”
@ Can't wait.
Apparently that report of the daughter sleeping upstairs during the attack comes from the S.D. Union-Tribune, attributed to CAIR rep. Hanif Mohebi who met with the family.
If true, it does make the daughter's story even more critical to the investigation.
So the 17 y/o daughter was supposedly sleeping upstairs during the attack. Hmmm....
If this crazed American racist-bigot was so filled with rage to break into this house and murder the 32 y/o mother for being or looking Muslim/Iraqi/whatever, all he had to do is continue up the stairs and finish off the rest of the family too if he so desired. He would have at least found the 17 y/o daughter. But no, the daughter supposedly slept through the whole thing and only came down after a good nap at 11:15am.
As for "the notes":... A lot of people are suckers for the notes because they are predisposed or conditioned to think the worst of America and Americans. Of course that's what the real killer was counting on when he thought up the idea of writing a couple of threatening notes to cover his tracks.
Someone put a cross with the words "Give Thanks to the Lord" in the yard?
Yeah, probably the husband after he killed her. Just another thing besides the note he planted.
I love how you guys have the inside scoop on the situation. Really, baseless conjecture is definitely the best way to go when determining someone's guilt.
It didn't take long for the ex- husband lynch mob to show up and proclaim his guilt
present husband.
Basically, the only new thing in this account is the Shiite background of the family. Shia-Sunni sectarian tensions can result in murder but there's nothing here pointing to that kind of motivation yet.
Religion is going to be a huge problem in the US now with all these "immigrants" and I am so very tired of the USA bending over backwards for everyone coming to this country but not listening to its main people who are the true Americans!
I have nothing against immigrants but if they come here then you live by our rules, laws etc. Keep your personal beliefs to yourselves. Thank you.
And to the Atheists out there, Again I have no problem with what you believe except when it comes to changing how the USA was founded. In God we Trust...
I am saddened by this woman's death and I pray that the culprit is caught and gets what they deserve, swift justice! Murder is murder no matter where you come from. I hope her family and children can go on in this cruel world and prosper safely.
muddiemike - "not listening to its main people who are the true Americans!"
What's a true American? You mean the ones that came to this continent and changed how the locals did things by taking away their land, forcing them to go to 'Christian' schools to be humiliated, not speak their own language or practice their own religion and way of life, do you mean those "true Americans"?
but not listening to its main people who are the true Americans!
You mean the Native Americans the white people killed off or the white people who killed off the Native Americans?
True Americans?
We didn't listen to the 'true' Americans when our ancestors arrived here from Europe and so forth. We took their land and pigeon-holed them on reservations. As Codger pointed out, a majority of the 'true' Americans don't even speak their ancestral language.
Speaking of keeping personal beliefs to themselves, why aren't you? I can only guess that you are one of those descendants of people coming to this country...
"And to the Atheists out there, Again I have no problem with what you believe except when it comes to changing how the USA was founded. In God we Trust..."
Oh, you mean the "In God We Trust" that was added in 1956, many generations after the founding of our country.
Yeah, no, we're not founded on Christianity. Sorry.
All of you listen. This article is meant to arouse a response in hate crimes against muslims. You want to see the real hate crimes being perpetrated by muslims. Something that MSNBC refuses to acknowledge? Check out:
http://islam-watch.org/
Muddiemike - how exactly to you get that they weren't American! Sounds to me like her children were BORN here and are just as American as you are. You are not superior to them or any other Immigrant who has come over and started a family. I don't care if your family came over on the Mayflower.
There is NO indication that this woman did anything to bring this kind of violence onto herself or her family.
- just sayn - and you can call me a "true America"
Christian Rickman: So if we weren't founded on Christianity, then what were we founded on? Where do you think our founding fathers got those ideals from? I know how atheists like to bring up James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, but let's be frank those are only two of the presidents in our country. Why don't we start with the first? George Washington. If you look at some of George Washington's quotes you will find that he held a deep belief in God. He never omitted church if he could help it and it stands to reason that that is the reason people voted for him for him as the FIRST president; is because they knew God was with him as evidenced by some of his quotes. Observe:
Uhhhhh...isn't that a bit hypocritical?
UNhappy-1583758 - WTF??? This article is meant to show the death of a Iraqi woman under suspicious circumstances, nothing else. If you put anything else on it, I have to suspect you are using it for your own, bigotted reasons. Climb back down the hole you cralwed out of.
That would be freedom. Just because some of the founding fathers were Christians doesn't mean the country was founded on it. That's like saying some of the founding fathers were slave owners, so the country should be founded on slave ownership, too.
Here is my final response. I really can't see why you had to bring religion into a story about a woman being murdered for being a Muslim.
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
-Treaty of Tripoli
I rest my case.
Not the bible. A far more influential work would be Locke's Two Treaties. In fact the founding of our country went directly in opposition of what a biblical founded country would have.
Really? Obviously you didn't read Ch.9. John Locke goes into a long speech about Adam and his God-given right to pursue that happiness. Unless of course, you are equating monarchy with the Church of England? We have no such rmonarchy in the US. But it didn't mean to exclude God from it.
"true" Americans are in fact waves of immigrants that came here over the past couple of centuries, from all sorts of countries, and their children and grand-children. Lots of Irish immigrants, Italian, Chinese, just to name a small few. America is is made up of only immigrants and their descendants. The ONLY ones that are not either an immigrant or a descendant of one are Native Americans.
Also, I thought America was founded on the whole "freedom of religion thing".... guess that's just a sound bite.
"you come here you live by our rules, laws" ...ok what was this woman doing that was not living by our rules??? Oh I'm sorry, she didn't become a christian, is that what you mean? Shame on her for not converting to christianity!!!
Mark- the collapsed catholic: Next time you go into a conversation, make sure you know what you are talking about. Climb back into the hole you crawled out of. If you noticed my response was not meant for you, but in answers to Muddiemike, Codger, and Fact of the Matter. I noticed you didn't mention any of them in your crap talk.
The USA was founded without any reference to Christianity whatsoever. And yet Unhappy attributed this to George Washington:
That is absolute hogwash. Washington never said such words. Not once. Not ever. Not for any reason.Washington never said those words, nor any Christian prayer specifically mentioning Jesus. Why do Christians insist on bearing false witness against our founding fathers?
Washington was not a Christian. Even the Christian ministers who knew him personally agree. He was a Deist, as were most of the Founding Fathers.
We know this from Washington’s confidant Gouverneur Morris, Reverend James Abercrombie, rector of Christ Church (Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit); from the first Bishop of Pennsylvania the Right Reverend Dr. William White (letter to Colonel Mercer) and from Reverend Bird Wilson in his famous sermon - "Religion of the Presidents," which was published in the Albany Daily Advertiser in 1831.
Other sources are Washington’s grandson George Custis and Robert Dale Owen, a reporter who later became a member of Congress and diplomatic Minister to France.
Washington lobbied John Hancock in 1777 to prevent the appointment of brigade chaplains in the Continental Army, and expressed no preference between Muslims, Christians, Jews and Atheists in his March 24, 1784 letter to Tench Tilghman.
We know Washington didn’t say “grace” at mealtimes (journal of Commissary-General Claude Blanchard) and never took Communion; that he actively went out of his way to refuse Communion. He also refused Christian counsel on his death bed.
Don't go putting words in Washington's mouth.
Read the Compendium of Great American Sermons, especially the Bird Wilson sermon. What he famously stated was that not one of the first 7 Presidents were Christians (although Andrew Jackson did convert after leaving office).
It's easy to prove me wrong, Unhappy: just find the mentions of Jesus Christ or the Bible in the US Constitution. Otherwise, get used to it and get over it - the US was in no sense founded on the Christian religion. And that's what makes our Constitution so special: it grants us freedom OF religion as well as freedom FROM religion.
While Adams was a Unitarian, Madison, Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Paine, and others were devout Deists. If you want to know more about the religion of our founding fathers then I suggest you read the writings of Elihu Palmer.
yeah, because nothing says "true american" like complete disregard of actual historical documents and asserting one's beliefs followed by telling others to keep theirs to themselves.
MARK - LAPSED CATHOLIC AND FULL TIME IRISH....I love your screenname....thanks for the chuckle!
Take out the religious & ethnicity aspects of this story and we have a woman who was beaten to death. A horrific and sad time, regardless of the motive.
Interesting that the headline now ends with a question mark..."hate-crime killing?" A lot of us have had the same questions from the start...like, are the police investigating the obvious suspect, namely the husband?
Obvious to who? You? Perhaps. But then again, seeing as how none of us are privy to ALL of the investigation or the evidence, perhaps there's a reason they are not focusing on this "obvious" suspect?
Go back to watching the First 48 on cable. Leave the "obvious" questions and investigation to the professionals.
Mike, the husband...or wife...is ALWAYS the obvious suspect when a married person is murdered, no matter what culture they come from. There's a good reason for this: the most common murders are 1) husbands killing wives 2) wives killing husbands 3) parents killing children and 4) children killing parents.
True Cassandra, plus she had already lived in the US for some time. What ever the reason it stirs up a lot of problems, but this one could have been to cause such problems with the Iraqi people, hopefully not. But what ever the reason it does need to be solved soon.
This whole thing sounds really fishy.
After 9-11 it is not hard to profile people from the Muslim communities. I know I know.....I get the unfairness of it but we will never be the same since our country was attacked viciously. I do not consider myself a racist but if I am supposed to "accept and move on" I can't and probably never will. I would never harass anybody muchless kill them because of their race but I WILL keep one eye opened if I am uncomfortable and remove myself from the situation. And the people from Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran make me uncomfortable and I refuse to socialize with them. And they feel the same way about us. So we are all thrown into a cesspool together and told to make nice. In a perfect world that might work. So much for a perfect world.
Keeping an open eye on the Brits and Japanese as well, are you? Both "viciously" attacked our country and on larger and more prolonged scales.
Don't get me wrong. I understand the 'why' of your thought process and I certainly can't blame you, but at the same time, it seems kind of silly. Muslims are the "enemy of NOW". Later on, it'll be the Chinese, or the Russians (again) or the Brazilians or maybe even the Canadians (provoked in part by our ruining of hockey). Who knows what the future holds. No one is going to force you to hold hands with anyone you don't trust. But don't alienate the good because of the bad.
I've known Muslims all my life. There are some that I trust without hesitation. Mainly because they care about others - not just those within their religion or even their communities.
How exactly do you know how any muslim feels about "us" and really who gives you the right to put you an I in and "us" anyway. I have friends and family of many cultures and religions. I learned a great deal about the Islam religion and found it to be beautiful and takes an amazing dedication. The world as a whole maybe better off with out being your friend - don't worry - I have to watch out for all the white people - you never know when they will cause a problem!
Suds, you have the right not to socialize with them if you don't want to, but not all of them feel that way about us. I am an American,(my parents & grandparents born here too, before that who knows, a mix of british and german I guess) I am engaged to an Iraqi man.We respect each other's religion and culture. We don't sleep with one eye open. We just sleep happily in each other's arms.
Mike, you are a twit. You are an infidel and your life means squat to these muslims. The term Candy Ass comes to mind.
suds, as a rule, whenever someone prefaces a statement with the words "i don't consider myself a racist," it is because that person is a racist. if you weren't, then you would not feel the need to make that declaration prior to the comment. to illustrate my point, please read your comment again, replacing the words "muslim" and "iraq/afghanistan/iran" with words for a different religion and the names of three different countries (specifically three countries that we are not currently invading or talking about invading). try this combination for instance: "And the people from [Denmark/Poland/Canada] make me uncomfortable and I refuse to socialize with them." Gee, if someone said that, then it would sound kinda dick-ish wouldn't it? if you still don't think of yourself as a racist, that's ok. rest assured that everyone else does.
I love how people create their own definitions of what is a racist. Now, proclaiming that you are not a racist makes you a racist? Just because you say so? Also, just because Suds does not want to socialize with people, for whatever reason, does not warrant insults being hurled at him/her. Even if Suds is racist, it is not illegal or a crime to be racist. As long as he does not bother anyone else, who cares whether or not he is racist. That is his right in this country.
REALLY fishy
First they have to find the perpetrator. Could be family you know....with the note(s) left as way to throw off an investigation. In which case it would not be a "hate crime." If it were a stranger that did this because they are Iraqi then yes it would likely be a hate crime.
But it does usually turn out to be family or friends. Sadly.
The note says "essentially." What is meant by essentially? I'm sorry, with MSNBC reporting as they do, it's kind of fishy here. Tragic, yes. But also fishy.
I didn't see the interview with the 17 year old daughter, but some that did posted it as odd. Do any of you think she might be involved. With her not being in school her family ould have been planning to marry her off or send her back to Iraq? Just maybe she wasn't happy with that prospect. Hope to see the response from those that have a closer knowledge of the details.
If you want to see the interview, click on the link I provided in post # 1.1
Profiling, now that's a ruff one. Look at the profiling that went on with the Japanese in WW2. The problem is that used legally sometimes profiling has to be used to keep everyone from suffering and even protect the ones being profiled. But for the simple person to use it with prejudice is another story.
Look at the immediate family first. The note is too convenient. Let's just hope that the sad event is more properly handled than the last publicized female murder in San Diego and not judged to be a suicide. Just sayin'
Unfortunately, the police in San Diego County tend to be the cause of a lot of crimes. Is that happening elsewhere? Let's hope the assigned detectives don't end up in jail.
Islamics are cultists and they put violence against their women each and every day... their women are treated like cattle as a normal thing for these muslims...
And why does the CAIR Executive Director Hanif Mohebi state what they supposedly left note say where the police would not confirm the contents of the note...
And who would be stupid enough to leave a note where it can be traced by either handwriting, dna, fingerprints, or, if typed, from a printer or typewriter?
This is something typical of a male relative would have done it... let's wait for more information Mr Mohebi before you say something stupid again - you were real fast in saying this was a hate crime before the investigation started... typical cultist reaction...
Ironically, I thought you were talking about Christianity:
Radical Republican Christians are cultists and they put violence against their women each and every day... their women are treated like cattle as a normal thing for these Radical Republican Christians....
I think Radical Republican Christians have done more lately to degrade and strip women of their rights!
Pete, republicans attack women.. It's not just an Islamic thing
Kids are stupid they do anything from selling crank to beating up the homeless, they don't care what they leave behind. All the rage against scarfs in school by right wing lunitics teaches this kind of hate to kids --- On the note, police don't release evidence
Not all kids Jim, Check the count on how many have joined our armed forces sometime. I think the good ones out weigh the bad.
You are an idiot! I served in the US Army and I am a Muslim. My husband does not treat me like a cow nor has he EVER used violence in any way, shape, or form towards me. We both treat each other with the utmost respect for each other. Maybe you treat your Mother, sister, or girlfriend/wife like cattles and that is where you get this idea from. Islam is a beautiful religion that respects women. And by the way, I wear the hijab because I want to, not because my husband MAKES me! Just because I don't choose to show my breast and butt does not mean I am being treated like a cow. The sad part is that I could be easily targeted and have been in the past because of how I dress and maybe one day even be killed for not dressing provocatively enough for the ones like you, EVEN THOUGH I served MY country to the best of my ability. So sad that there are uncultured, moronic imbeciles such as yourself. Get educated Pete from Colorado!
donadaire, since this comment section has already veered so disturbingly off topic, i'd like to say thank you for your service in the army. it's very disheartening to think that there are many people like you who are brave enough to risk their lives for all of us, only to be insulted and ridiculed by hateful xenophobes. as numerous as these pricks seem to be, there are more people in the u.s. who are proud of our diversity and proud of the men and women who sacrifice for us all.
I agree with pretty much everybody. Leaving a note is too obvious. Why didn't the daughter wake up? Something is wrong.
I don't see how flying the victims body back to Iraq would end a hate crime prosecution
Does anyone understand that racism is alive and thriving in East San Diego County. Regardless of who left the note. If could have easy been a real racist or a husband. However it comes out, racism is a stain on El Cajon, Santee and Lakeside. If you are a minority in Santee or Lakeside, be aware and cautious. Skin heads are all over these two cities.
Yep, you are right. El Cajon is bad, but racism is all over San Diego County. In most places its quite & not noticed though. Skin Heads & other groups are still all over the place every place there is meth
That's true Jim. Very true.
The perpetrator was undoubtedly another youth, they sell the LSD in El Cajon
Just skinheads in El Cajon? No black or hispanic gangs? You are a closet racist AL.
I don't get it: check out all the ones that came from Nam that are here. Pretty much settled down. I think time will heal. If not what a mess.
jim, people sell lsd in the 50,000-person indiana town that i live in. the last time i checked, acid wasn't causing kids to murder muslim women. no, most murderers aren't acid freaks. they're @!$%#s and sociopaths.
sounds like Rodney King revisited. Hopefully the yard apes can control themselves and not beat any Reginald Dennys.
Too many unanswered questions.. probably a lot they are not telling us for obvious reasons. So this happened during the day...what happened to the first note the family received.. did they keep it, throw it away.. Something does seems a little amiss here but I didn't see the daughter's interview either...
If this winds up being a hate crime I hope they find the person(s) who did it and if convicted beat the crap out of them instead of letting rot in Jail. Beat them within an inch of their life and when they recover do it again and again. If this was a hate crime why did they have to pick on a women that proberly had no real way to defend herself. This person(s) is a coward.
Sounds like an honor killing. Those who commit these killings are catching on that honor killings will bring prison sentences so what better way to get around that then to fly the flag of racism as a red-herring. The note sounds so phony. Who kills someone and then leaves a note? And why her in particular? Doesn't sound like things happened the way they are being portrayed.
Not all Muslim husbands commit honor killings. Please. Even if he did kill his wife, he could have did it just because he was a jerk not because he was a Muslim. Why can't people from Iraq be allowed to have some jerks? White people have Casey Anthony.
Uhmmmm .... another beaten Muslim woman ... best check the family members. And while they're at it check around the house for the book "How to beat your wife." This is a popular gift for Muslim couples. It tells husbands that they should beat their wives with their hand, a stick or pull her by the ears. Evidently wife beating is akin to a sports activity for the Muslim male. The Islamic Professor who wrote the book forgot to include a chapter about over enthusiasm, sticking to a stick and how hitting too hard can kill.
How many Muslim men beat their wives in the US do you think? I am guessing that it's not a lot. Considering that there was no history of violence or whatnot, you're just badmouthing a man for no good reason. He lost his wife. Leave him be and stop being a bigot.
The daughter's interview seems strange, forced, and fake. The tissue being put to the face repeatedly is a body language cue that screams, "I'm lying."
See for yourself:
Robin, I couldn't agree more. The daughter didn't shed one single tear that I could see, nor did she seem to be distraught. She was well composed and articulate. All fingers point to her.
Spiritus good luck being the family pet after your wedding. Better never get raped because it will be your fault for not fighting hard enough. Remember the 12 year old girl that was gang raped and was sentenced to 100 lashes for not fighting hard enough by an Iranian judge last year? She died on the 78th lash. The 2 men that whipped her to death then gleefully said "see if she was innocent Allah would have spared her". Her family watched!!!!!
Denis, I appreciate your concern, and many like yourself paint all muslims with the same brush. It's ok, not your fault, you don't know any different. You hear these stories and assume they are all that way. He and his family would NEVER condone such behavior. I will show your post to him and his family, they will get a good laugh.
Stay in Iraq.
Dean25 Our country shed blood and help the Iraqi people and you come up with that crap. Grow up.
After watching the video of the daughter...I have to wonder. That is probably the WORST acting job I have ever seen! Her tissue was not wet at all, and she is almost smiling. I don't buy her story. I think either she did it, or had it done!