Ibrahim, 31, of Jersey City, was sentenced today in Jersey City by Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez to two consecutive life terms in state prison. He was sentenced to an additional 48 years, to be served concurrently, on charges including desecration of human remains, theft, unlawful possession of a weapon, and hindering apprehension. The sentence includes 127 ½ years of parole ineligibility.
Ibrahim was found guilty at trial on June 22 by a Hudson County jury of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree desecration of human remains, and other crimes related to the murders and mutilation of the bodies. He was indicted in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office and New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.
Ibrahim murdered Hany Tawadros, 25, and Amgad Konds, 27, in the early morning hours of Feb. 5, 2013. Tawadros and Konds were Egyptian nationals who were living in Jersey City. The state presented testimony and evidence at trial that Ibrahim shot each man once in the chest with a .38-caliber handgun inside Konds’ white Mercedes C280. Ibrahim then drove the bodies of the deceased victims to Buena Vista in the Mercedes. There he disposed of their remains in a wooded area behind the unoccupied home of a relative, after stealing the victims’ money and jewelry.
Before burying the victims, in order to hinder their identification, he cut off their heads and hands using a small drywall saw and scissors, and knocked out their teeth with a tire iron. After staying overnight at the relative’s house on Harding Highway in Buena Vista, Ibrahim drove the Mercedes to Philadelphia, where he abandoned it at a secluded location after setting it on fire to destroy evidence of the murders.
Deputy Attorneys General Vincent J. Militello and Frank Morano tried Ibrahim for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, with assistance from Analyst Nathalie Kurzawa. State Police Detective Frederick Kuhrt served as trial detective, and Detective Sgt. Glenn Garrels, Detective Sgt. John Hannigan and Detective Sgt. David Gosweiler led the investigation for the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit and Troop “A” Criminal Investigation Office. Attorney General Porrino thanked the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Philadelphia Police and Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for their valuable assistance in the investigation.
“Justice for the victims and the safety of our citizens required that Ibrahim face a true life sentence without parole for the sickening murders he committed,” said Attorney General Porrino. “This sentence delivers that justice by ensuring that Ibrahim will spend the rest of his days behind bars.”
“From the moment the State Police uncovered the buried, dismembered bodies of Ibrahim’s victims, our multi-agency team of detectives and attorneys worked single-mindedly to achieve this result,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “A man capable of committing the atrocities he committed should never be free.”
“The brutality associated with these murders would make some of the most experienced investigators take pause,” said Colonel Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “I would like to commend everyone involved in the investigation and prosecution of Ibrahim. It was their hard work that ensured Ibrahim will never pose a threat to the public.”
A life sentence is defined as 75 years for purposes of calculating parole ineligibility under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA). NERA requires that Ibrahim serve 85 percent of that sentence, or 63 ¾ years, without possibility of parole. He therefore faces a total of 127 ½ years of parole ineligibility on the two consecutive life sentences for murder.
On Feb. 7, 2013, detectives from the State Police Troop “A” Criminal Investigation Office responded to the house on Harding Highway in Buena Vista after receiving a report regarding Ibrahim’s suspicious activities there. They obtained permission to search the wooded area behind the house, where a cadaver dog located an area of disturbed dirt near the end of a trail extending from the back yard of the house into the woods.
Armed with a search warrant, State Police detectives from the Criminal Investigation Office, Major Crime Unit and Crime Scene Investigation Unit excavated the spot on Feb. 8 and found the two bodies. The cadaver dog was used again to find the victims’ heads and hands, which were buried about 40 yards from the original grave site. Close to the second site, the dog detected the odor of human remains, and detectives recovered a small drywall saw, a pair of scissors and a tire iron.
Further investigation by the New Jersey State Police and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office led detectives to learn that the Philadelphia Police had recovered Konds’ abandoned Mercedes, which contained evidence of the murders. Ibrahim was located and arrested on Feb. 10, 2013, at a residence in Bayonne, N.J., by the New Jersey State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service. Ibrahim initially was held in the Hudson County Jail with bail set at over $3.5 million.
Ibrahim already was serving a state prison sentence prior to the murder trial. He previously pleaded guilty to charges filed by the Attorney General’s Office in connection with an armed robbery in Jersey City on the night of Sept. 19, 2012. He admitted that he shot a man in the foot with a handgun and pistol-whipped the victim while robbing him of his money and cell phone. Ibrahim also pleaded guilty to a robbery charge filed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office related to a carjacking in Jersey City on Dec. 22, 2011. He was sentenced by Judge Galis-Menendez on Jan. 8, 2015 to 18 years in state prison, including more than 15 years of parole ineligibility, in connection with both of those cases.
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