A Jersey City man was charged with murder yesterday for allegedly shooting two other men point-blank in the chest, cutting off their heads and hands and then burying them in a shallow grave in a rural area of Atlantic County, according to police.
The alleged murderer, Yusuf Ibrahim, 28, was arrested Sunday in a Bayonne apartment after police connected him to the bodies through the car of one of the victims, a white Mercedes Benz, which had recently been found half-burned out in Philadelphia.
According to police Ibrahim shot the two men, aged 25 and 27, inside the Mercedes at some time last week, dismembered their bodies and then buried them in two shallow graves about 20 yards in the woods off a relative's home in Buena Vista Township. A report of suspicious activity at the home on Thursday sent state troopers to the scene where cadaver dogs soon found the bodies—and later their heads and hands in separate graves. Police soon connected the remains to Ibrahim, who had been seen driving the victim's car before it was found half-torched and abandoned in Philadelphia.
The graves (NBC10)
"These were grisly murders in which the defendant allegedly shot both victims in the chest at close range," Attorney General Chiesa said of the case yesterday. "We allege that the defendant was ruthless and calculating in the manner in which he carried out the killings and attempted to prevent identification of the victims by cutting off their heads and hands before burying their bodies. The New Jersey State Police has conducted a thorough investigation, which will enable us to secure justice for the victims."
The victims have so far only been identified as Jersey City residents, though NBC10 in Philadelphia reports the victims were roommates and that one of them moved to the States from Egypt four years ago. Of the pairs connection to Ibrahim the police will only say they all lived near each other.
