Court Convicts Hijacker of Murder : Germans Sentence Terrorist to Life in American’s Death

A court today convicted Mohammed Ali Hamadi of air piracy and murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the 1985 TWA hijacking that left a U.S. Navy diver dead.

He received the maximum penalty under West German law.

The three-judge District Court convicted the Lebanese Shiite Muslim for his role in the 17-day hijacking of 39 Americans and the brutal beating and shooting of Robert Dean Stethem of Waldorf, Md. Stethem’s body was tossed from the plane onto the Tarmac at Beirut Airport.

In a statement after the sentencing, Stethem’s parents said Hamadi should have received the death penalty, which is not allowed under West German law. They also warned against any political deals that might free him early.

Hamadi, 24, admitted taking part in the hijacking of Flight 847 from Athens to Rome but denied killing Stethem.

He looked straight ahead impassively as Chief Judge Heiner Mueckenberger read the verdict to a packed courtroom inside Frankfurt’s fortress-like Preungesheim prison.

Mueckenberger said the court found Hamadi guilty of “joint participation in murder.” By law, a defendant taking part in a serious crime may be convicted of murder even if he did not actually kill the victim.

“He was an active member of Hezbollah,” the judge said, referring to the pro-Iranian Shiite Muslims believed holding foreign hostages in Lebanon.

The court also found Hamadi guilty on three counts of hostage-taking and inflicting grievous bodily harm, and two counts of smuggling explosives into West Germany.

Hamadi testified that the hijacking was intended to force the release of Lebanese Muslims imprisoned in Israel. Shortly after the ordeal, Israel released about 700 such prisoners.

Dozens of former passengers said Hamadi was one of two hijackers who brutally beat Stethem. He claimed that his accomplice, who remains at large, pulled the trigger. Court records identified the accomplice as Hassan Ezzeddine.

Later, Stethem’s father, Richard Stethem, his wife Patricia at his side, read a statement to reporters, breaking the silence they maintained throughout the trial. They attended all 65 sessions.

“Our family maintains Mohammed Ali Hamadi deserves punishment more severe than life imprisonment,” Richard Stethem said. He also warned against a “possible political commutation of his sentence in the future.”

“Any commutation of Hamadi’s sentence would be a pure mockery of justice,” Stethem said.

Peter Korneck, a trial prosecutor, said Hamadi could first apply for parole in 15 years but that he would have to meet numerous conditions to be granted freedom.