The three suspects arrested for the murder of a merchant in Aramoun. Photo taken from the ISF website.
Lebanese police announced Thursday that they had arrested three men suspected in a murder case — one accused of planning the crime and the other two of carrying it out — who killed a relative of the planner in order to steal money from him.
The victim, a Lebanese man in his fifties, disappeared during the night of Jan. 7 to 8, as he was returning home from his sanitaryware shop in Barbour to his residence in Aramoun, in the district of Aley. The Internal Security Forces (ISF) investigation identified two suspects, a Syrian and a Lebanese man aged 37 and 33, who were arrested on Jan. 11.
They confessed to luring the victim to one of his warehouses, where they tied him up and beat him to death. After transporting and hiding the body in Ain Anoub, a few kilometers from the crime scene, the alleged perpetrators went to the victim's home to steal money but were unsuccessful.
According to police and based on the confessions of the two men, the person who orchestrated the crime was the son of the victim's niece, who told the accomplices where the money was located. He was arrested in Basta and admitted to having his great-uncle killed.
The vehicle used in the crime was also seized, along with the victim’s personal documents found at the home of the first suspect arrested, according to the ISF.
