A Third Jury Is Convened to Decide on Sanity of Murderer of 5

A third jury has been convened to determine the sanity of a Lebanese convicted of murdering his wife and four family members.

Prosecution and defense attorneys told jurors in their opening statements Monday that experts will give their views about the sanity of Toufic (Tom) Naddi when he killed his 26-year-old wife, Aida, her parents, a cousin and brother-in-law five years ago.

If the panel determines that Naddi was sane at the time, they will then hear more evidence before considering whether he should be executed for the slayings or spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.

If they find he was insane at the time, Naddi, now 49, could be committed to a mental institution or could be freed if he is deemed recovered.

Naddi’s in-laws, Habib Sabbagh, 73, and his wife, Lillian Sabbagh, 58, were members of a wealthy and prominent family from Amman, Jordan. Aida Naddi’s brother-in-law, Osama Mashini, 38, was a popular comedian in Jordan. Also slain was Michael Sabbagh, 38.

The victims were shot in the head as they slept at the Naddis’ home in El Cajon during a visit in June, 1985.

Jurors who convicted Naddi in 1988 of five first-degree murders deadlocked 11 to 1 in the sanity phase of the trial, with the majority finding the defendant was sane.

During the guilt phase of his trial, Naddi testified that he shot his sleeping relatives because his wife told him she had been involved in an incestuous relationship with her father for years. He also said she offered him money to leave their marriage and give her custody of their two children.

Naddi also testified that he thought God had set the scene for him, and that he acted as “God’s executioner” in carrying out the slayings.

A mistrial was declared in Naddi’s second sanity hearing when Superior Court Judge Terry O’Rourke ruled that the prosecutor made prejudicial remarks during his closing argument.

In an unusual aspect of the case, Naddi was married Dec. 1 to a paralegal who assisted the defense team during his 1988 murder trial. Naddi and Carol Moore were married in a County Jail ceremony witnessed by two of his children and three of Moore’s children.