Man Guilty in Grisly ’98 Killing of O.C. Boy

An Egyptian immigrant accused in the slaying of a 12-year-old La Habra boy was found guilty Tuesday of molesting the child, then encasing his dismembered body in concrete chunks in a bungled effort to hide the attack.

Family members of the victim sobbed quietly in a Santa Ana courtroom as jurors announced the first-degree murder conviction of John Samuel Ghobrial, 31. The jury deliberated for four hours.

During the two-week trial, defense attorneys acknowledged Ghobrial played a role in the 1998 death of Juan Delgado. But they insisted the killing was not premeditated and the one-armed emigre known locally as a friendly panhandler never sexually assaulted the sixth-grader.

The guilty verdicts were welcomed by La Habra police officials, many of whom were so distraught by case evidence that the department hired a psychologist to help them cope.

Officers followed a trail of concrete blocks, some weighing 200 pounds, that were leaking blood. The chunks contained remains of Delgado that led directly to a shed Ghobrial was living in.

“We’re pleased that the jury sees things the way we do,” said La Habra Police Capt. John Rees. “It was a grisly case for the community and the people who had to work it.”

The convictions clear the way for prosecutors to begin arguing today that Ghobrial deserves to be put to death. During the penalty phase of the trial, jurors are expected to hear for the first time that the immigrant was accused of a similar attack in Egypt.

Prosecutors plan to call Ghobrial’s cousin to the stand. They said the cousin will testify that when he was 8, Ghobrial molested him and attacked him with a penknife, repeatedly stabbing him in the chest and stomach.

Ghobrial fled Egypt after the assault, authorities allege. Three years later, he made his way to Texas. There, he told federal officials he had been persecuted in Egypt because he was a Coptic Christian. An immigration judge granted him religious asylum.

Eventually, Ghobrial landed in La Habra. He didn’t have a job, but some residents were touched by his disability and tried to help him. One family allowed him to rent a backyard shed. And Ghobrial became known in the neighborhood for giving candy to children.

He struck up a friendship with Juan, a Washington Middle School student who lived nearby. The boy was last seen alive in March 1998, walking with a one-armed man who was carrying a basketball.

Authorities allege Ghobrial carved up the boy’s body with a meat cleaver. Four days after Juan disappeared, shocked neighbors discovered the first of the large concrete pieces.

Detectives searched Ghobrial’s shed and recovered some of Juan’s clothes, a school detention slip, bags of concrete and pornographic magazines.

The killing horrified many in La Habra, a city of 55,000 that has one or two homicides a year.

Many residents feared others might also have been involved. How else, they asked, could a one-armed man move large chunks of concrete? But prosecutors believe Ghobrial acted alone, using a shopping cart to move the cylindrical blocks.

The case came to trial Nov. 28 after months of delays. The last postponement was after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Defense attorneys argued then that an Arab immigrant would have a hard time receiving a fair trial.

Neither Ghobrial’s attorney nor the prosecutor would comment until the penalty phase is complete.

During closing arguments, the attorneys debated whether Ghobrial raped Juan.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Brent said Ghobrial “had an unnatural desire” for the boy.

Forensic scientists examined the boy’s remains and concluded he had been sexually assaulted.

But Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg argued that scientific tests did not conclusively prove that Juan was raped before being killed.