Four Family Members Slain In Jersey City
Family's Throats Were Slit
POSTED: 11:39 am EST January 14, 2005
UPDATED: 11:51 am EST January 14, 2005
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Four family members were found slain Friday morning in their home, their throats slit, authorities said.
The family -- a man, woman and two children -- was discovered at 4 a.m. after relatives reported the four had not been heard from in several days.
The bodies were found bound and gagged, and their throats were slashed, said First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory.
Jersey City police officers broke down the door to the family's house near the Hudson County Courthouse and found the bodies of Hossam Armanious, 46; Amal Garas, 36; Sylvia Armanious, 16; and Monica Armanious; 8.
Autopsies were to be conducted on the bodies later Friday.
No arrests had been made as of late Friday morning.
WNBC-TV in New York reported authorities were investigating whether a former tenant, who had had a dispute with the family, was involved.
"I feel very, very bad," said Mohammed Riaz Khan, a neighbor who lives across the street from the victims. "They were a nice family."
"They were good people," added Betty Garro, who works as a housekeeper next door.
Authorities were milling about on the front porch and inside the green two-store wood frame home, which was still bedecked with Christmas decorations including tinsel lights, red bows and garland wrapped around the handrail.