Bio

Jihad Hassan Moukalled was born in 1958. By 2000, he was living with his family in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He was married to Fatima Moukalled, who was 31 years old and pregnant at the time of her death. The couple had three young children, Aya, age 7, Adam, age 5, and Lila, who was almost 3 years old.

Moukalled owned a printing business in Oak Park, Michigan. Before the murders, police said the business was struggling financially and had built up major debt. Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer said Moukalled had been making frequent gambling trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City for about two years. The business had accumulated around $500,000 in debt and that credit cards found in the home carried about $60,000 in debt.

Shortly before the killings, Moukalled returned from a three-day trip to Las Vegas. He had tried to have $85,000 deposited into a bank account so the money could be transferred to a Las Vegas casino, but the bank did not honor the check. Investigators later connected the killings to his financial crisis and gambling debts.

Murder Story

On November 21, 2000, Jihad Hassan Moukalled returned to his Farmington Hills home after a trip to Las Vegas. According to police, he was facing serious gambling-related debt and had become distraught over his financial situation. Later that day, a maid found the bodies of Moukalled, his pregnant wife Fatima, and their three children inside the family home.

The victims were Fatima Moukalled, age 31; Aya Moukalled, age 7; Adam Moukalled, age 5; and Lila Moukalled, who was days away from turning 3. Police said the children appeared to have been suffocated while they were in their beds. Fatima was shot, and investigators found signs of a struggle in the master bedroom. Moukalled then died by suicide from a gunshot wound.

Investigators found a suicide note on the kitchen counter. In the note, Moukalled wrote about his gambling losses and described being trapped by the hope of “one more shot.” Police said the note showed remorse and linked the murders to his debt and gambling problems.

Police Chief William Dwyer stated that Moukalled had been making weekly trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City and gambling large amounts of money. Reports also stated that his printing business had accumulated heavy debt, and shredded casino markers worth about $225,000 were found in the home.