Two Egyptian Coptic Christians found dead in their bed on 6 January – the traditional Christmas celebration for Copts – were murdered because of their faith, according to the brother of the dead woman.
Police said robbery was the motivation for the deaths of Gamal Sami, 60 and his wife, Nadia, 48, but her brother, Magdy Amin Girgis – the first person to reach the crime scene – said nothing was taken from the couple’s home. Magdy found his sister still wearing her jewellery after the double killing and nothing was missing.
He had visited the house in Minufiyah, northern Egypt, after being alerted by the couple’s son, Kirolos, who works out of the area and who had been trying to contact his parents on their mobile phones.
The murders followed another deadly attack on a Coptic Christian only three days earlier. Youssef Lamei was murdered in Alexandria on 3 January by an alleged ‘professional’ killer. The attack on the couple bore similarities with Lamei’s murder.
The main suspects for the double killing are two men known only as Mohammad M and Abd al-Aziz Q, according to the police. It is understood that the two men did not know their victims.
