Boy, 3, fatally exorcised before being buried to be brought back as Jesus
Four family members have been convicted in a far-fetched plot involving terrorism and the kidnapping of a young boy who was forced to endure daily exorcisms before being buried to return as Jesus.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, his sisters Hujrah Wahhaj and Subbhanah Wahhaj, along with Subhanah's husband Lucas Morton, were found guilty by a jury after a three-week trial. Siraj Wahhaj and Lucas Morton were found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder an officer or employee of the United States.
Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhana Wahhaj and Lucas Morton were additionally convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death. A fifth defendant, Jany Leveille, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and being in possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States.
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Siraj kidnapped his three-year-old son, Abdul Ghani, from his wife in Georgia in December 2017. The defendants had come to believe that Abdul was Leveille's son and possessed by demons.
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The group fled to New Mexico with Abdul, taking him from his mother and depriving him of his anti-seizure medication. There, he was subjected to an "exhausting regimen of daily spiritual exorcisms", according to the New Mexico Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Siraj and other members of his family fled with the toddler to a remote stretch of the high desert so they could engage in firearms and tactical training to prepare for attacks against the government. The whole scenario was tied to the belief that Abdul would be resurrected as Jesus Christ and provide them with instructions.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, left, sits next to public defense attorney Aleks Kostich at a first appearance in New Mexico state district court in Taos (AP)Under Leveille's direction, Siraj and the others established a community which was built around the belief that Abdul would return as Jesus Christ to pass judgement on corrupt institutions, including the FBI, military, and other government and financial institutions. The group established a fortified base and firing range.
Armed with 11 firearms, including an AR-15 Bushmaster assault rifle, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, the group carried out weapons and tactical training and required some of the children to do so as well. Training was carried out with the intent to "face the nation" and kill those who refused to believe as they did, speaking of waging jihad and becoming martyrs.
Abdul died less than two weeks after arriving in New Mexico, before investigators even had any knowledge of a potential location to look for the young boy. The toddler ended up dying hundreds of miles away at a squalid compound in northern New Mexico in 2018, with his badly decomposed remains found in an underground tunnel at the compound on the outskirts of Amalia near the Colorado state line.
The group fled to a ramshackle compound in the New Mexico desert (AP)On August 3, 2018, the Taos County Sheriff's Office Tactical SRT unit executed warrants on the compound. Siraj armed himself and prepared to defend the compound before being taken into custody without shots fired.
An exact cause of death was never determined amid accusations that Abdul, who had severe developmental disabilities and frequent seizures, had been deprived of his essential medication. Prosecutor George Karehe said during closing arguments on Thursday that Abdul was at the heart of the case, urging everyone in the courtroom to remember the toddler's name.
Prosecutors recounted the hurried journey the four defendants and their children took from Georgia to Alabama and eventually New Mexico. They left nearly everything behind, including other family members who sent numerous texts, emails and social media messages pleading with them to bring the boy home.
“They were running and hiding because they knew what they had done was wrong,” Kraehe told jurors. Prosecutors alleged that Leveille was charting the group's course based on messages that she received from God, detailed in passages in a journal.
Jany Leveille arranged a plea deal and faces up to 17 years in prison (AP)In her plea agreement, Leveille admitted that she and her co-conspirators entered into an agreement to provide material support and resources to prepare for, and to carry out, the killing of federal officers or employees when they came to the compound. Leveille also admitted that she knew she was no longer legally and lawfully in the United States and that she was not allowed by law to possess firearms or ammunition.
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Presenting himself in court, Siraj told jurors that the federal government was presenting a false narrative and that they needed to consider only the facts as they deliberated his fate and that of his two sisters and his brother-in-law.
“The government portrayed me to look like a monster,” he said, explaining that his family was close-knit and they were trying to protect his son from evil spirits. He said they used a ritual known as ruqyah in which passages from the Quran are recited.
He told jurors it was one thing to be able to defend one’s self from a physical attack, but that a spiritual attack — which he believed was happening to his son — required prayer. Defence attorneys for Hujrah and Subhanah Wahhaj told jurors that they played no role in Abdul's death.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, from left, and Jany Leveille talk with with attorneys Kelly Golightley and Tom Clark (AP)They said they were only at the compound to care for their own children as they endured inhospitable conditions that included cold temperatures and harsh winds. They talked about how one of the women searched the internet to find information on trapping squirrels and birds, so the family could eat more.
Prosecutors argued that the women were part of what they described as a “sick end-of-times scheme” that evolved after Abdul's death and that they had “an avalanche of evidence” against all four defendants. The defendants adopted what prosecutors called “a number of unique beliefs that set them on a dangerous path.”
"When a mother loses her child, we all lose a child," said US Attorney Alexander Uballez. "It is our collective responsibility to protect our children from danger and, when we lose a child, it is our solemn duty in law enforcement to ensure that those who are responsible receive justice. My thanks fo out to the many local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who worked tirelessly to deliver that justice, and my heart goes out to the mother of Abdul Ghani."
Abdul's body was found in tunnels beneath the compound (AP)FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said: "The nefarious activities and subsequent conviction of these four depraves criminals underscore the continued interest of some US-based violent extremists in self-initiated attack plotting, independent of any guidance or support from a foreign terrorist organisation. This investigation highlighted their interest in the preparation for and possible desire to conduct attacks in the Homeland against innocent people."
"In addition to this preparation for terror, the senseless kidnapping resulting in the death of a juvenile these criminals conducted is inexcusable and have no place in our society," Agent Bujanda continued. "Their despicable actions shattered a community and a family who will forever be impacted by these traumatic events.
"The convictions rendered in this case show those who participate in these types of criminal activities will be held accountable for their actions The FBI would like to thank the Taos County Sheriff Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico for their partnership and diligent work on this case.”
All four defendants will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled. Siraj, Hujrah and Subhanah Wahhak and Lucas Morton each face up to life in prison. As a result of her plea deal, Leveille faces up to 17 years in prison.
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