Beirut serial killer mystery solved

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced that the ISF arrested on Tuesday 5 brothers suspected in the string of killings that have plagued Beirut and its suburbs since August.The arrests were made after security forces collected evidence from 11 separate murders in recent months.    

In a special press conference on Tuesday to discuss the case, Charbel stated that 5 brothers living in the same building were arrested: Michel, Georges, Aziz, Moussa and Maurice Tanilian, known also as the Bou Hanna family. The brothers all hail from Syria but Aziz, Moussa and Maurice hold Lebanese citizenship.    

Charbel added that the raids took place after the ISF Information Division obtained the key of the building’s iron door. “The 7mm handgun used in the crimes belongs to Michel Tanilian, known as Michel Bou Hanna.     

“The assiduous efforts and perseverance of the ISF Information Division and night patrols led to the arrest of the murderers”, Charbel said.    

LBCI headed to the Chahrour building in the Nabaa region, where the Tanilian family, known as the Bou Hanna family.    

Neighbors say the 5 arrested brothers are between 35 and 50 years of age, originally from Qamishli in Syria and of Syriac origins.   

Two of the brothers participated in violence during the civil war and were imprisoned on charges of murder before being released in 1992 under general amnesty.