Illinois man Joseph Czuba believed he was ready for the apocalypse. He had been convinced by his favorite radio shows that Muslims were planning a "day of jihad" on October 13, 2023. When the day passed without incident, Czuba told his wife that something was still coming the next day. Ready to face down the attacking hordes, he withdrew $1,000 from the bank, just in case "the grid" went out. There was only one loose end: his Palestinian-American tenant, Hanaan Shahin.
"He came to the house and said he was angry at [Shahin] for what was happening in Jerusalem," prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald said after the incident, citing detectives investigating the crime. When Shahin told Czuba to "give peace a chance," Czuba allegedly chased Shahin through her apartment with a knife. Then he stabbed Shahin's 6-year-old son Wadea Al-Fayoume to death, prosecutors say. Police found Czuba outside the apartment, dripping blood.
