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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/Leather_Focus_6535 on 2024-01-07 22:10:54+00:00.
John Ghobrial is one of the hundreds of condemned inmates in California whose sentences remain in limbo from the bitterly stalemated battles regarding the state’s death penalty laws. Much of his personal history is murky, but he was an immigrant from Egypt.
He was from a Coptic Christian family, and immigrated to the United States on the pretenses of religious persecution. In one incident, he reportedly lost his arm to an anti Christian lynch mob. However, family accounts and court documents mentioned that he molested and stabbed his 8 year old cousin, and fled abroad to avoid prosecution and domestic repercussions. Due to illicitly crossing the Mexican border, Ghobrial’s precise date of entry and early life in the United State is unknown.
While in the United States, Ghobrial became a transient in the state of California. Much of his income came from panhandling in store parking lots, but he took up work as a butcher. He mainly lived in the backyard sheds of friends that he made.
In 1998, Ghobrial lured a local boy, 12 year old Juan Delgado, into the shed that he resided in. What exactly occurred afterwards isn’t known, but Ghobrial chopped Delgado’s body into several different pieces with a meat cleaver, and encased the dismembered remains in 7 concrete cylinders. Ghobrial then loaded the cylinders into a shopping cart and scattered them in the backyards of several neighboring houses.
Due to him only having one arm, authorities strongly believed that Ghobrial had help in disposing Delgado’s body. Some of the cylinders he crafted weighed up to 200 pounds, and would have been a herculean feat for a man with two arms to just pick up. Ghobrial somehow transported and threw every one across the span of several blocks with only one arm to use.
Despite their strong suspicions, authorities weren’t able to track down any potential accomplices, and only Ghobrial was convicted and condemned for the murder.
In your personal opinion, how likely did Ghobrial carry and scatter Delgado despite his physical inhibitions?
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