Jury Still Reviews Killer’s Words in Sanity Trial

The jury that is to decide whether Toufic Naddi was sane or insane when he killed five family members in 1985 will continue today to listen to testimony he gave at his first trial last year.

Court reporters began rereading Naddi’s testimony to the San Diego Superior Court jury last Wednesday .

Naddi, 48, of El Cajon, was convicted June 8 of the first-degree murders of his wife, her parents, and two in-laws in El Cajon on June 1, 1985.

The first jury deadlocked 11-1 on whether Naddi was sane at the time of the murders. A second jury is now attempting to determine Naddi’s mental state at the time of the crimes.

Naddi’s attorney, Hodge Crabtree, argued last week that Naddi was insane, and Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Boles said he was sane.

If found to have been insane, Naddi would be committed to a mental hospital for the criminally insane, but could eventually be released if he proved he had regained his sanity.

If the jury determines Naddi was sane, the trial moves into the penalty phase. The jury would then decide whether to recommend that Naddi be put to death or be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In this second trial, Naddi has refused to testify, so his comments are being read back. Last year, Naddi spent three days on the stand detailing how he shot each victim and why.

He claimed his father-in-law, Habib Sabbagh, 73, was “a sex maniac” who had molested Naddi’s wife, Aida Naddi, 26, and said he killed them as part of God’s plan.

“I thought that God had set up this situation, and it was His will that I kill these people,” Naddi testified then.

Naddi said his mother-in-law, Lillian Sabbagh, 58, was “involved in the incest matter herself,” so he killed her too.

Also shot repeatedly in the head were Michael Sabbagh, 38, a cousin, and Osama Mashini, 38, a brother-in-law and a comedian/actor in Jordan. The Sabbagh family was wealthy and well-known in Amman, Jordan.