Killer’s Cousin Tells of Similar Attack

The teenage cousin of a drifter convicted of molesting, killing and dismembering a La Habra boy testified Wednesday that John Samuel Ghobrial savagely attacked him several years ago while the killer was still living in Egypt.

Seeking to establish a pattern in Ghobrial’s behavior, prosecutors flew the cousin and his mother from Egypt to tell his story at the first day of the trial’s penalty phase.

The witness said that during a family wedding in the early 1990s, Ghobrial lured the boy--then 6--to a secluded area, then severely beat, stabbed and attempted to rape him.

Egyptian authorities issued an an arrest warrant for Ghobrial after the boy reported the incident, but U.S. immigration officials apparently weren’t aware of it when they granted him religious asylum. Ghobrial said he was a Coptic Christian persecuted by Muslims. He said he lost an arm because a mob pushed him under a train.

Eventually, Ghobrial landed in La Habra, where he rented a backyard shed and was known for giving candy to neighborhood children, and struck up a friendship with 12-year-old Juan Delgado. On Tuesday a jury convicted Ghobrial of molesting Juan before killing him and trying to dispose of the remains by encasing body parts in concrete. Neighbors became suspicious when they noticed that some of the concrete was leaking blood.

Ghobrial’s 16-year-old cousin told jurors Wednesday through a translator that he almost suffered the same fate nearly a decade earlier in Egypt.

Ghobrial was attending the wedding of the boy’s sister when he lured the teenager with candy and took him to a nearby school, the witness said in Arabic. Ghobrial attempted to rape him, but the boy said he refused to take off his clothes. Ghobrial tied him up, stabbed him and stomped on his head numerous times until the boy lost consciousness, the boy said.

“He boxed me,” said the slender youth, referring to the numerous punches he said he received. “And then he opened a switchblade and worked on me.”

At one point during his testimony, he removed his shirt for the jury, revealing stab wounds on his hands, shoulders, chest and abdomen. He said it took years to recover from the attack, and that the injuries to his jaw make it hard to talk.

The jury will decide whether Ghobrial should face the death penalty for Juan’s murder.

Ghobrial’s defense attorney said the jury should treat her client with leniency because he suffers from schizophrenia.

“He has extreme mood swings that manifested into anger and sometimes into violence,” Assistant Public Defender Denise Gragg told the jury. “His actions are uncontrollable. His choices that he made throughout his lifetime is with a physically deformed brain.”

She said Ghobrial’s mental problems began after he was beaten over the head with a table at age 7 by his father.

His symptoms worsened as he got older. He sometimes dug for hours, thinking gold was buried in the family’s yard, she said.

Several professionals testified about Ghobrial’s mental health. Some said he appears to be very ill but others said they thought he was faking his symptoms.

Also taking the stand were Juan’s parents, who, speaking in Spanish, said their lives have been miserable since his death.

Margarita Delgado, tears streaming down her cheeks, said her son’s death has also affected his siblings. Their grades have dropped tremendously and they’ve become angry and rebellious against her.

She described Juan as a restless child who liked to help mow neighbors’ lawns, wash cars and bring out their trash for a couple of dollars. She had to leave the stand after becoming overcome with emotion.

“I miss him a lot,” said his father, Jose Delgado, a truck driver. “I feel that wherever I go, I feel bitter because I wasn’t able to be there the day this happened to defend him.”