Excerpt from the interrogation of Aghafni Ebkarian, known as Ani, sister of the accused, on April 12, 1985, at the Baabda judicial police department. 

After completing the testimony of Rafi’s wife, we listened to the testimony of his sister Aghafni, as follows:

My name is Aghafni, the daughter of Assadour Nahabedian, my mother is Alice. I was born in 1959 in Bourj Hammoud. I’m a housewife.

My brothers own a jewelry factory in Camp Marash. About three weeks ago, I believe, on the day of the five persons murder, my brother Panos and my brother Hratch traveled to Syria so that Hratch travels from there to abroad, and eight or nine days ago, it was a Saturday, my brother Panos came back and attended to my house and he slept at my house for a night after he took a shower and his wife came the next day and slept with us also and on Monday my brother went I don’t know where. Then I checked my husband’s ID and I did not find it in the house, I don’t know who took it. I asked my husband about it and he answered that he left it at home. I don’t know anything about the murder. I know that Raffi and Panos owe about one million and three hundred thousand pounds of debt. I informed my mother that Panos came then left and Panos asked me not to inform her about this.

Military Court, on June 1, 1985, at 17:00 pm:

Q.-Tell us about everything that happened since the moment Panos arrived from Cyprus?

A.-On Saturday evening, between nine and ten, Panos and Raffi arrived to our house, and I was surprised by Panos' arrival. Panos told me that he had come by boat from Cyprus, and after half an hour Raffi left. I told Panos why are you hiding from the investigation, but he answered: "I have one million and three hundred thousand pounds in debt”. And the next morning, it was eastern palm Sunday,  Raffi came and gathered with Panos in private, inside a room and they were talking in a very low voice I did not hear from their conversation anything except one word, while I was passing by near the room, the word “astal” (=Water pipe)  and I think Raffi told this word.

Excerpt from the interrogation inside the Military Court of Lebanon of Alice Anazonian, mother of the 3 defendants. She’s born in 1932, from people of Zahle, register number 89, mother’s name Osanna, residing in Bourj Hamoud, Arax street, Zeituna property.

Q.-How many times have you visited each of your children after their arrest?
A.-I have never met Raffi since he was arrested. As for Panos, I saw him when he was brought to Baabda and we did not speak to each other. First, I visited Hratch and I was accompanied by Boghos Mazbaninan, who did not speak to Hratch, and Raffi's wife was with me.

Q.-Describe Hratch's position, and what did you two talk about while he was arrested?
A.-He told me: “Mom, why are you crying, after three months we will go out”, and there was a security man near me.

Q.-Did you ask Hratch how the incident happened and who did it?
A.-Yes

Q.-Did he give you a loud answer that contradicts what he whispered to you in a low voice?
A.-Yes, when I asked him why - what did you do - who did this? He answered me loudly: I did it, and after three months I’ll be free. I took him by the hands and asked him if these two hands did this? He whispered to me in a low voice: “No, it wasn’t me but my brother, my brother is married and has children, and I have to say I did it.” I don’t know if what he said is true or not.

Excerpt from the interrogation of Garbis Mazbanian, brother in law of Panos Nahabedian in the Consulate of Lebanon in Los Angeles
22 January 1986, 10 a.m.

Q.-How did you and your father Boghos, find out the place where the loot was hidden and how did you find out about the perpetrators?
A.-It is Steve (Panos), who asked for help, and we, in such cases…not possible…because if we give them help today, we can end up in jail tomorrow me and my father, I’m sure 100%. So, we couldn’t help them. We would bring trouble to ourselves, so we found this was the best way.

Q.-I repeat, how did you and your father find out about the place where the loot was hidden and about the perpetrators?
A.-It’s them…they called my father…my father and me…and I went to meet them where they were. At  that time, we had no knowledge about anything. And we knew the entire story. Because… His absence was long. He was absent for an entire week… a week and a half, 15 days…I don’t remember. This absence made me doubt that there was something wrong. It was a long absence.

Q.-How do you evaluate your and your father’s role as informants, knowing that one of the perpetrators is your brother in law?
A.-Panos’ absence took 10 to 15 days. Then he returned, I don’t know how he returned. And he asked help from me and my father, telling us the story…so, we told them: as you brought this to yourselves, find a way out by yourselves…because if we had helped them, we would have brought trouble to ourselves. Especially in such a situation…I don’t know…the biggest crime…It’s not a game…one should keep his mind and head…       

Excerpts from the interrogation in the Military Court of Lebanon, of Ibrahim Alkhoury, (son of Afif Alkhoury), the father in law of Raffi Nahabedian, syrian living in Damascus.
Date: 8 june 1985, 10 a.m.

Q.-What is your information about Panos and Hratch, who came to your house on March 28, 1985?
A.-Hratch and Panos are the sons of my wife’s uncle and at the same time my son-in-law's (Raffi’s) brothers. They used to come to my house sometimes once or twice a month and sometimes every week. It was their custom to come to my house in Damascus, where they used to bring finished works of gold and other things to sell in Damascus.

On March 28, 1985, Panos and Hratch came to my house in the evening at half past seven. At that time, I was outside the house, so my wife called me. When I got home, it seemed to me that they were both confused and "in a hurry." I asked them, "Well, what’s up? will you return tonight?", since it was their custom to return sometimes on the same day to Lebanon, even at night.

Panos informed me that for the fourth time his brother Hratch was trying to escape army service, and he pretended being in a hurry because his wife doesn’t know that he was in Damascus. He asked me if there was a quick way for Hratch to get a visa to Cyprus or Greece. And the preference was Greece first, secondly France, and Cyprus thirdly. Otherwise, for any country. I was surprised by this request and his urgency, especially since the time had become night and it was Thursday, so the next day is a Friday and it is a holiday and embassies do not open their doors.

So Panos and Hratch stayed, and on Friday morning we went to the Greek embassy, and at ten o'clock we met the responsible official and he referred us to Beirut to obtain a visa because they are Lebanese. The employee of the Greek embassy advised us to go to the Cypriot embassy, so we went to the Cypriot embassy, where we obtained an entry visa for Panos and Hratch, after we secured two travel tickets. Panos tried to fly on Friday but there was no available flight to Cyprus so Panos and Hratch had to wait until Saturday afternoon. And I remember, by the way, that due to the strong insistence of Panos inside the Syrian Airlines office at Al-Firdous Street to travel on Friday, an employee got angry: “No, we don't have bikes that can fly, you have to wait until tomorrow afternoon."

I remember that on the occasion of obtaining a visa at the Cypriot embassy, Panos was asked about the amount of dollars he had, and he replied that he would take a thousand dollars with him. Then we went back to our house where we had lunch and on the way, he was trying to buy a Lebanese newspaper, but we did not find a Lebanese newspaper on Friday and in the afternoon Panos told me while we were drinking coffee: "Uncle Ibrahim, we are going to be a bit unpleasant with you. We need thousand dollars." I told him that I did not have a thousand dollars, then he opened his bag and took two checks worth 16 thousand Lebanese pounds drawn on a bank in Tripoli and told me he wasn’t able to go to Tripoli to get paid.
At Panos' insistence, I pledged to him to arrange an amount of one thousand dollars, and immediately I called the goldsmith Eid Nassif, who personally brought the thousand dollars in the evening, and he handed me the amount to be returned to him later in dollars.

On Saturday morning I went to work and at about 13:00 I called my house and my wife informed me that they had gone to the market and bought what they needed of towels and a bag. and I was informed that the entry card of Panos to Syria is not stamped, unlike Hratch’s card. So, I told him that he could not travel from the airport unless he returns and obtains a stamp on his entry card, and perhaps from Jdeideh, where he entered Syria, and then the call ended.

When I came home in the evening, I learned from my wife that Panos and Hratch had traveled to Cyprus, and that they had taken a taxi, first to Jdeideh, then to the airport.

My wife had asked them to call, and reassure us, the hour they arrive in Cyprus.

Indeed, on Sunday morning, we received a phone call from Cyprus. My wife answered and Hratch was speaking, so she was reassured that they were fine.

On Saturday evening, we had received a letter sent by Raffi with the daughter of our neighbors, Herib. I learned from my wife that the letter was written in Armenian, asking the return of the two brothers to Beirut as soon as they receive the letter.

On this basis, when Hratch called, my wife told him about the arrival of Rafi's letter and its content.

On Sunday, March 31, Rafi came to our house around 13:00 and asked about his two brothers. We told him that they had traveled to Cyprus and that Hratch had called by phone. And then Rafi begged us saying that if one of his two brothers called again from Cyprus, we would ask them to come immediately to Lebanon for investigation, and by the way, Rafi told us that someone was killed in Beirut and that if Hratch and Panos did not go to Beirut, all the responsibility would be on Rafi. Rafi did not stay in our house for more than ten minutes and left quickly pretending that he had come to Damascus without his wife's knowledge.

On Monday 1/4/1985, Hratch called in the evening from Cyprus to our house in Damascus, and that was in my presence. My wife answered and informed him that they had to return to Lebanon because they are all wanted for investigation. Then Hratch commented that he would inform us when Panos returns from Cyprus to Damascus, and that he, Hratch, is trying to obtain a visa to France, after which the call ended.

On Tuesday 2/4/85, my wife went to Lebanon, and on Wednesday she returned to Damascus. When I asked her, she told me that a jeweler had been killed in Burj Hammoud and that the investigation was taking place with everyone he was dealing with, including Rafi, Panos and Hratch.

On Wednesday, 3/4/85, Hratch called again from Cyprus, and Raffi had carried my wife the previous day a letter for Panos and his brother. In that phone call, I told Hratch about the letter, and Panos in turn came and spoke to her and inquired about the contents of the letter. Panos promised to come immediately by plane to Damascus or to Beirut, my wife begged him to come to Damascus to go together to Beirut, and the call ended.

And Friday 5/4/85 or Saturday 6/4/85 I don't remember exactly, Hratch called again from Cyprus and told that Panos had traveled from Cyprus, saying: "Panos has left Cyprus." However, Hratch did not specify either the hour or the direction of Panos, and we spent that whole week believing that Panos would come to our house. And on the following Saturday, on April 13, 1985, Alice, Rafi's mother, came to our house in Damascus, she asked about her son, Panos, and the hour of her arrival was about nine in the morning, and she was alone. She spent that day with us.

On the morning of Sunday 4/14/85, Alice returned to Lebanon because we had told her about Hratch's call about his brother's departure from Cyprus, and we had commented that he might have gone to Lebanon. Alice commented, "I hope he will not come from Beirut airport, because in west Beirut, there are snippers."

Monday morning 4/15/85 Easter Monday I came back from church around 12:00 and found our neighbors, Herib’s mother and her son in our house on the occasion of Easter. When I asked them about the Bourj Hamoud’s murder, they were amazed and they supposed that I already know. As to me I was thinking that the murderer was done by the brother of the murdered man’s wife. They corrected my information, saying: "The newspaper showed the pictures of the murderers Panos and Raffi. As to Hratch, he escaped”, and he showed me the newspaper and the pictures.

I told my wife, who started crying, and immediately we took a car to Beirut, where we arrived in the evening. And when we entered Rafi's house, it was about 18:00, the police were preparing a report of Alice's testimony. They asked me about my name and then asked me what I gave Panos, and I told I gave him a thousand dollars and that he kept turquoise stones with me with the possibility of selling them or keeping them in trust.

On the morning of Tuesday 16/4/1985, my son and my wife went to Baabda and Boghos Mazbanian accompanied us, where we all met Rafi in a room where I, my wife and my daughter……. In this confrontation, Rafi told us: "I have not done anything, it is them who did it." He was crying and kissing his wife's hands and asking her for forgiveness and kissing his child. Then he asked about the duration of the sentence if it is more than fifteen years. Then he said to my daughter, his wife, "If you don't want to wait for me, take back this ring." He was speaking in Armenian with his wife and with her mother. I didn't understand what he was saying. I advised Raffi to tell the truth only, then I gave him a sum of five hundred pounds, and the confrontation ended, and we were unable to confront Panos, so we went back to Raffi's house.

On Wednesday 17/4/85 in the morning I returned to Damascus and my wife stayed in Bourj Hammoud.

On Friday 19/4 or Saturday 20/4/85 I went back to Bourj Hammoud and on the same day I returned to Damascus without my wife, who stayed in Bourj Hammoud for an additional week, and after two or three weeks my wife returned to Beirut, and she was unable to confront Rafi. And that's all I know.

Q.-Who paid for the tickets to Cyprus?
A.-In his small wallet, Panos had money including Indian rupees, Japanese yen, Belgian currency, Saudi riyals and US dollars (about $320). Not all of that was enough, so Panos borrowed from me five thousand Syrian pounds.”

Q.-How was Hratch's behavior?
A.- He brought with him a quantity of tapes including Greek, Turkish, Armenian songs, etc. He used to sing and dance. As for Panos, he was meditative, and trying every hour to listen to the news from radio Voice of Lebanon.

Excerpt from the interrogation of Marie Al Khoury, wife of Raffi Nahabedian, on April 12, 1985, at Baabda Judicial Police detachment

After completing the testimony of Rafi's mother, we listened to the testimony of his wife, Marie AlKhoury, as follows:

Q: My name is Mary, the daughter of Ibrahim Al-Khoury, my mother is Satik, born in 1963 in Aleppo, and a resident of Burj Hammoud, Camp Marash, property Zaytouni - Araks Street. Married to Rafi Nahabetian. I’m Syrian, a house wife.
My husband, Rafi, owns in partnership with his brother Panos, a factory, and Hratch , their brother, works there, and Hratch is a soldier in the Lebanese army but deserted. On March 28, 1985, on Thursday, Panos and Hratch told us that they were traveling to Damascus and from there to Cyprus, so that Hratch can travel to abroad. and it was about ten thirty and they left and did not return. I asked Rafi and he told me they won’t return because of the debts. I heard about the crime around eight in the evening on Thursday, March 28, 1985. I did not notice anything about my husband. About five days ago, my husband Raffi and his mother and I, went for a walk, and we stopped on our way to his sister. Raffi asked us for permission, on the pretext that he is going for a small ride and will return, and he came back to us exactly an hour later, so we went back to our house and I noticed that his shirt had been replaced with another one. I asked him why he changed it, he replyed: It’s not your business”, and began to laugh. In the house, I saw in the corridor and inside the bathroom a black dirt. I asked him what he did. He answered it’s because of the paint of the shoes. I took my son’s clothes and tried to put them in the washing machine. I saw Raffi’s shirt with a black dirt on it. I asked him the reason, he told me he went to the shop and worked a bit. I said nothing. During all this period I didn’t see Panos and Hratch. They did not come to my house, but Raffi's sister told me that Panos came back to Lebanon and he traveled after a short period of no more than two days.
I didn’t ask the reasons. This is what happened and I told you.

Q: Did your husband tell you what he and his brothers did?
A: No, never.

Q: Did you notice any confusion or fear on him?
A: Two days after the crime happened, he told us he was afraid because he went around one o’clock and delivered things to the person who died, the owner of the factory. I told him if you have nothing to do with the crime, why are you afraid? He replied:” if they see my fingerprints they will arrest me and think I was the killer.” I told him not to be afraid and if interrogated, to tell the truth and what he had done. He kept silent. This is what happened.

Excerpt from the interrogation of Marie Alkhoury in the military Court on June 1, 1985 11:30 am

Q.-What did you notice about Rafi before the crime of Burj Hammoud and how was his behavior while he was taking Valium pills?
A.-I didn't notice anything on him before the crime, but after the crime I noticed on him confusion ---- a lot, and he was talking to his son and crying, and I saw him twice taking Valium pills and when I was asking him why he was taking Valium he would answer me saying that his nerves are very tired and that every day he fights with his creditors.  He sometimes said weird phrases as if he was sick and was going to die. On one occasion, when I woke up at night to breastfeed my son, I happened to touch my husband Rafi near me and noticed that he was in a state of great fear.-----  he was terrified and he said: ”I did not kill, it is not me who killed.” Then he slept back----as if he did not wake up completely, and in the morning I asked him what happened at night, and he replied that he saw a disturbing dream of murder and theft and it was in that period when he asked me if something happens to him,  I must take the kid and go to my father. When I asked him why was he behaving like this, he answered that shortly before Hrant was killed, at one o'clock in the afternoon precisely, Raffi was with Hrant in the store, and he delivered items to him, and because Hrant’s feet was hurting, Raffi himself was obliged to put the items in the safe, and that his fingerprints might still be inside the safe. So I asked Raffi not to think about this matter

Excerpt from the interrogation of Seta Boghos Mazbanian, wife of Panos Nahabedian, inside the military Court of Lebanon, on the 6th of June, 1985, 11:40 a.m..

Q.-What did you and Panos talk about when he came back from Cyprus?
A.-I felt that Panos was afraid, and when I tried to persuade him to go and give his testimony in the investigation, I understood from him that he will not do that before appointing a lawyer. I remember that the evening he came from Cyprus, where I met him at his sister Ani's house and before he fell asleep he told me he had something to say to me so I waited until his sister fell asleep but he fell asleep because he was tired and promised to tell it to me the next morning and the next morning he didn't say anything.

Excerpt from the interrogation with Sona Katourjian fiancé of Hratch Nahabedian, her father’s name Toros Katourjian, her mother Lucin, born in 1969 from the people of Bourj Hamoud.
Military Court of Lebanon on Monday, the 29th of  July 1985, at 13 P.M.

Q.-How many times have you called your fiancé Hratch Nahabedian to Cyprus, from where and on what date?
A.-Twice. Once from the Central Jdaydeh, and my father, Toros, was near me, and he was the one who paid the phone call.
As for the previous time, I had called Cyprus from the Central Jdaydeh as well;  when Panos came from Cyprus on Saturday, I asked him about Hratch, and he gave me his phone number. I tried to call Hratch on Sunday but couldn’t reach him and tried again on Monday, and Thursday and I talked to him for 3 minutes. Then the second time, I talked to him from Central Jdaydeh, and it was on Friday evening. And it was the day when Rafi was summoned for interrogation, and I was not aware of that.

On the second call, I gave Hratch the phone number of our neighbor to call me, but he did not. After the second call, I went to my fiance's house.

Q.-Did Hratch ask you about a Telex?
A.-No.

Q.-Did he give you a telex number to call him?
A.-No.

Q.-When you called the second time from the Central Jdeydeh, did you give your real name or the name Ani?
A.-I gave my real name.

Q.-How do you explain that the Central's records on the second call date and at the same time said that the one who called was named Ani?
A.-In fact, it was my father who gave this name when making the call, as to me I did not give my real name or any other name.

Q.-It seems that you were avoiding giving your real name, as Raffi used to do when he called and gave someone else's name?
A.-What do I have to do with Raffi?

Excerpt from the interrogation of Panos Nahabedian 14 April at 13:00 p.m, arrested at Raouche luna Park where he came to meet his brother Raffi, the head shave, to avoid recognition from the police. The police had already arrested Raffi, they knew about the appointment and were waiting for Panos, Raffi with them inside a car.

My name is Panos son of Asadour Nahabedian, my mother is Alice, born in 1958 in Bourj Hammoud, and its residents at Camp Sis. Property Bilikian,  married, my profession is a Lebanese jeweler, the record number is 89,  Zahle .

Q: It became clear to us from the investigation conducted by us and from your brother Rafi’s confession that on March 28, 1985 you committed the five persons murder with Rafi and Hratch, you murdered Lulu Kurkdjian and his workers and looted a quantity of precious stones. Tell us in detail the circumstances of this crime.
A:  I owned a gold factory jointly with my brother Raffi about a year ago, and we started making jewelry in Bourj Hammoud, and the work was fine before the dollar price jumped, and because we owed a large debt equivalent to one and a half million Lebanese pounds, we became in a very bad condition, as the majority of customers came to the shop and demanded the debt, and some of them were dangerous for us because we do not deal with anyone, so the three of us met, my brother Rafi and my brother Hratch, and the latter was a soldier in the Lebanese army and his position was on the airport road. He was kidnapped by the gunmen and beaten. He was admitted to the hospital and then came to the house. We asked him to join the army again. He refused. He began working with us in the factory. He joined the meeting with me and Raffi. I proposed to them the idea of getting rid of the debt. We decided all 3 to rob a juwelry, and we chose Hrant’s factory as a target. Hratch said that he can bring a weapon with a silencer. I had a Smith and Sun Accra pistol and my brother Rafi had a Star 9mm pistol and Hratch worked on bringing a small-caliber pistol with a silencer. I don't know exactly from where. As for my pistol and Raffi's pistol, we had them in the shop a long ago.  The three of us met in the factory for a last time. A conversation took place between us about how to carry out this operation, and I told Raffi and Hratch that we do theft only and we do not want to kill anyone because all of them have kids. Raffi and Hratch told me how can we do that when they know us and we will be exposed. We decided to execute the operation on the 28th of March 1985. The night before, I told my wife that I will travel to Syria with my brother Hratch so that he can travel abroad. The next day, on Thursday, around ten thirty in the morning, I told my wife that I was traveling, but I went to the factory where my brother Hratch was waiting with Rafi. Hratch had brought the pistol with the silencer, and about twelve o'clock Raffi went to the factory of Hrant in order to deliver to Hrant pearl rosary, and to make sure if there was anyone other than the owner and the workers. Raffi came back shortly and told us that there were people and then went again and it was about two and ten minutes in the afternoon, and we were waiting in the car near the vegetable market near Lulu's factory, we caught up with Rafi after 5 minutes. We met him on the road. He told us that there were no customers and that he was going! So, I told him to wait a little, then to follow us. I actually went up to the factory with Hratch and the wooden door was open. When the worker Hani saw us, he opened the electric door because he knows me well. I entered the factory and Hratch followed me and closed the iron door behind him. I entered immediately into Hrant's office, and Hratch remained in the hallway, and Raffi was outside the iron door. I pointed the gun toward Hrant threatened him and told him not to move. He asked me what’s the matter? I told him we’re going to rob, to open the safe. He said it is open. During this time, Hratch opened the door to Raffi, and Rafi came in to the room where I was and started emptying the safe from its contents. Then I heard screaming from the second room and heard a gunshot, I immediately went to the source of noise and found that the Armenian girl Khatoun was killed. I went back to the corridor and began to shiver, then Hratch shot the second girl, killing her, and came back, took Hrant to a second room adjacent to the iron door and shot him, killing him. Meanwhile Raffi ended emptying the safe, and before leaving he told to Hratch not to kill Avedik but Hratch shot Hani then Avedik, killing them both. Then we left the factory closing behind us the iron door and the wooden door and we went straight to the car and from there to my brother Raffi’s house, where Raffi went up with Hratch. Then Hratch came back. The stones and juwels remained in Raffi’s house. The gun remained in the nylon bags. I drived the car and Hratch seated next to me. We headed to Syria via Monteverdi, and after the Monteverdi junction, my brother Hratch threw pistols in the woods, before the army checkpoint. I think the 3 guns. We stayed in Syria 3 days, Then, we travelled to Cyprus. After five days, I returned to Beirut by sea, where I stayed for one night and slept in my sister’s house. I asked Raffi what he had done. He told me that he hid the stones on the roof and the gold as well. On the second day, I went to the West Beirut and stayed in a hotel in the locality of Raouche. I do not know the name, I paid him a thousand and five hundred pounds for 2 weeks, I called my brother Hratch, as well as Raffi. I spoke to him twice, and the second time I was arrested and brought to the detachment, where I am interrogated, and I confessed the truth, and this is what happened to me and I told you.

I have nothing to add other than that.

Excerpt from the interrogation of Hratch Nahabedian, at the judicial Police station, Baabda department.
Date: Wednesday 17 April 1985
Hour: 17:00

According to the telegram issued by the General Institute of Internal Security Forces - Technical Division - Interpol No. 299/215 dated 4/14/1985 to the Cyprus Interpol to arrest Hratch Nahabedian, the third brother involved in this crime a Cypriot police patrol arrived to the  Beirut International Airport in 17/04/1985 and handed us the called Hratch  son of Assadour Nahabedian, his mother’s name Alice, born in 1965 in Burj Hammoud. He was arrested in Cyprus and when we searched we did not find anything forbidden as he was deposited in the interrogation room, knowing that we received a telegram and transaction from the General Directorate, Technical Division No. 205/207 to wait for the arrival of the aforementioned Hratch.
Therefore, we informed by telephone, Mr. Khawam, the Prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, and he announced to begin the investigation of Hratch and to inform him of the result, respectively.
We brought the detainee to the investigation room and began interrogating him as follows:

I am Hratch son of Assadour Nahabedian, my mother is Alice, I’m born in 1965, in Bourj Hammoud, residing in Camp Marash, Arax Street, Zeintuni Property, I’m single - I work as a jeweler and I’m a deserter from the Lebanese Army.

Q.-I assign you that you and your brothers Panos and Raffi have murdered Lulu Kurkdjian and his companions and robbed the precious stones inside his factory. Tell us the details about this crime.
A.-I am a soldier in the Lebanese army who deserted from service about two months ago, and I work with my brother Panos in his goldsmith’s factory jointly with my second brother Rafi, and they have incurred recently a large debt due to the rise in the dollar. 
Before I entered the army, I also worked for them, and every day I asked them for my expenses because I needed them because I was engaged and wanted to get married. I was working for them for wages, but I was not paid. And one day they asked me to meet with them and proposed me to join in a robbery and murder, telling me to not be afraid to just bring a pistol and two bags and I’ll get as much money as I want. They were planing about killing the goldsmith in the Blanco Center.

But they changed their minds at the last meeting and decided to go and kill Hrant  Kurkdjian and a day before the crime my brother Panos told  me that the operation was for the next day and asked me to  be the one who shoot. My brother Rafi was in the shop and it was between eleven thirty and one. And he actually gave me a 6.35 type pistol and I put it in the middle of my back and Panos took with him a type of Colt with rollers, and when we entered the factory, we did not find any customers. Panos asked about Hani, ------ Lulu replied that his relatives are in the hospital. I think he wasn’t there. I entered the girls’ room with the aim of shooting. I could not. My brother Panos came and asked me to shoot. I answered him “I can’t”. He repeated this to me three times, saying to me: “come on”, “come on”, “come on”....”hurry up”. I couldn’t. So, he asked from us to return to our factory. Upon our arrival he said to me “you are a coward” and he started yelling at me repeating his words many times, and he started telling me “you can't get married if you work like this. From where you want to get the money?” I told him I’m not able to shoot and asked him to do this job himself and gave him the pistol.

The next day we decided to go the three of us, Panos, Raffi and I. I took the Colt pistol and Raffi 9mm pistol Star and Panos took the 6.35 caliber pistol and we drove with Panos' car and it was twelve o'clock. We parked the car near the vegetable market and Raffi went to check if anyone was present and he came back telling us that there were customers. As for us, we stayed near the vegetable market, and he came back again, and it was almost two o'clock, as he said “Come on, let’s go”, so we went together Panos and I. We entered the factory and Panos asked Raffi to come after five minutes and when we entered we did nothing till Raffi came and knocked the door and it was I who opened because Panos was next to Hani conversating with him. Raffi entered Lulu’s room and Panos followed him and I heard Panos telling Hrant: “Don’t move” pointing his pistol towards him. As I entered to the room, he told me: ” Take your gun, what are you waiting for?”, so I took my pistol and he told me: “watch out so that no one moves”. I and Raffi stayed in Hrant’s room. Panos asked Hrant to open the safe and Hrant asked Panos: “what is going on”, Panos answered: “You will see now”, so Hrant got up opened the safe and came back to his place. Then Panos went to the girls' room and I heard a girl's screaming and the sound of shooting. I went to the second room, then Panos came to Lulu's room and took him to the second room near the door and there he shot and killed him. Then he came to Hani and Avedik and he asked me to take them into the room where Hrant was killed, but then he caught Hani by the hand and put him back in his place and shot him, he fell down dead. Then he shot Avedik who was near Hani and killed him. Then he entered Hrant’s room where the safe was.

My brother Raffi had done his duty to take out the entire safe within nylon bags, so he carried the stones and gold and went, and I tried to follow him, but Panos asked me to stop, so I stopped. He told me: “I will come down after Rafi”. So, I followed them both to the car. We took the car and took the river road and after the vegetable market we stopped where I threw my pistol and Raffi's pistol in the river. As for Panos's pistol, it stayed with him, as he gave it to Raffi in front of the house.
Raffi went to the house and took the stones. Panos and I went to Damascus and then to Cyprus until I was arrested by the Cypriot authorities and brought to Lebanon.

Q.- How many days did you stay in Damascus and what did you and Panos sell?
A.-We stayed three days, where he sold jewelry that was with Panos and put a deposit of a quantity of stones with Raffi’s father-in-law Ibrahim Al Khoury  and took from him the expenses of a thousand dollars. He did not tell Ibrahim what we did.
After that we traveled to Cyprus and Panos returned to Lebanon by sea 4 days later. I asked him to do that, but he was afraid because his hand was filled with blood from the girl on whom he shot four times and then put his hand on the table and the fingerprints were marked, but he  traveled to Lebanon and Rafi called me on the phone, so I asked him for money and he actually sent me two thousand dollars with the worker Hagop I don't know his family name, he lives on Arax Street, and Hagop has no knowledge of anything, knowing that his family is  in Cyprus. I did not know, neither by phone call or another way that Panos was arrested and Raffi too. I just felt it when the police called me on the phone and asked me to come to them, so I went ----.

Q-Panos says it was you who shot and killed everyone, so what do you say?
A-I say that Panos' jacket was covered with blood, and after the incident when we stopped near the river and threw the pistols, he removed the jacket and asked me to throw it into the river over the pistols. This is a prove that he was the killer and I ask for a meeting with him in front of you to prove the truth to you.

Excerpts from the interrogation of Raffi Nahabedian on april13, 1985, Judicial Police Baabda Detachment.

Note: After listening to the testimony of the suspect Rafi and not reaching any positive result from him, we deposited him in prison at six o’clock in the morning on 13/4/1985. Then a patrol was launched to the Burj Hammoud area to follow up the research and investigations and to verify the validity of the information received by us. And during this and at 11 o’clock , we obtained additional information from another reference that proves that Panos is still in Lebanon, specifically in the western region. And that there’s an appointment between him and the arrested Raffi at 14 O’clock on the day 14/04/1985, in Raouche, precisely in front of the amusement Park. So we continued the investigation with Rafi in the following form after we brought him to the investigation room:

Q: It has been proven to us that your brother Panos is still in Lebanon and has not traveled to Jordan. What is your answer?
A: He is in Jordan.

Q: We have information that you are on a date with your brother Panos in West Beirut, in Raouche, the entrance to the amusement park, at 2 p.m. today, so what do you say?
A: As long as you obtain all these informations, I will tell you the whole truth and I ask you to inform the state to reduce the price of the dollar because it is the cause of everything and the details of this crime are as follows: We had financial problems as I mentioned and our debts became too big because of the Dollar prices, because gold and stones are dealt  by Dollar. So, we started thinking about bringing money in any way in order to pay the debts we had, and every day a customer was coming to the factory and started screaming and demanding his money. So, we met in the factory after work to plan a robbery and we decided Hrant's factory as a target, to rob the stones and gold, and then flee after paying our debt.  We had two pistols, the first is a 9mm Star type, and the second is a 3.8-caliber Smith and West Accra pistol and a small white pistol whose caliber I don't know, but a small cartridge that Hratch brought and he brought a silencer with him. We decided That we carry out the operation on March 28, 1985, and it was on a Thursday. We met together in the factory and Panos asked me to go to Hrant’s factory to find out if there were any customers inside, and in fact I went at twelve o’clock and handed Hrant a pearl rosary, and this was only an excuse. There were 2 guys in the factory. I came back. And by coincidence, Hrant asked me to bring him the golden buttons that he handed it over to me for urgent repair, so, I  took advantage and came back again, and it was about one and five minutes in the afternoon. There was a young man at Hrant's table receiving a work or handing over a work. Both times, I didn’t notice if Hani Zammar was there or not. So, I went back and told Panos and Hratch, who were waiting for me in the vegetable market in Panos' car near Hrant's factory. Then I went back to my factory and told the guys I was going to lunch. I went back to Panos near the vegetable market and told him that there was one customer and that time had passed and that he would leave the factory by now, and we decided to carry out the robbery and on this basis we set out on foot, separated from each other, my brother Panos the first and about ten meters away from him, Hratch and about ten meters away from Hratch, me. Panos and Hratch entered the factory while I was still on the road. Then I entered also to the factory. Immediately I started emptying the iron safe. Hrant said to me:” Raffi, what are you doing?”, “Master we have debts you have money, give us a little and it will be OK”. Meanwhile, I heard the screaming of the girl Khatoun and heard the sound of bullets, low because of the silencer. I continued to empty the safe into nylon bags and a leather bag, and after finishing I carried the bag and the nylon bags, and Hratch was entering Hrant into the room next to the door. I asked Avedik : ”Did you see anything?”, he said: ”No”. I asked my brother not to kill him because he has children, and I asked not to kill the rest too, but I knew that there were dead people, and I immediately went to the car, and Panos and Hratch followed me. I was slow because the bag was heavy. My brother Panos told me that Hrant and everyone, were dead.  They took me to my house and they continued driving to Damascus. I took the stones and gold with me, and I went up to the roof, where I put them in the barrel of the television until the next morning, then I took the gold to the factory and proceeded to melt it into ingots. This took me 2 days. As for the stones, I took them to Panos’s house as I have the key, and knew his wife was absent, she was in her father’s house. I put the stones under the bed. On Sunday afternoon, I went to my brother's house because his wife was absent (at her father's house), and I put the stones into 4 nylon bags then in cloths and brought them to my house after I sent my wife and mother to my sister's house and I put them in the bathroom sink within the water pipes in the wall as it was not visible, and the bathroom and the corridor became painted with black dirt as well as my cloths. I changed my shirt and tried to clean the floor of the house but the traces remained there. I went to my wife who was in my sister’s house, and when she saw me, she noticed that I had changed a shirt, and she said to me, “Why did you change your shirt?” I lied to her telling it was dirty. Then when we came at home she saw the dirt on the corridor and she asked me: “What have you done Raffi?”. I thought about an answered and I told her I was coloring my shoes. And the conversation ended on this basis, and I was able throughout the period to hide the case from my mother and my wife, and this is what happened to me and I told you.

Q: Did your brother Panos come to Lebanon and where did you meet him?
A: Yes, he came a week ago, and it was a Saturday, and he slept at my sister’s house for fear of the debt that belongs to the customers, and so that no one would know about it. He stayed until Monday noon, then he went to West Beirut because he was going to travel. He asked me about the stones and gold and I told him what I did. I told him literally what I did, and he agreed.

Q: What did you do with the guns, and did your brother Panos and Hratch take their guns with them?
A: On our way back by car, we exchanged the pistols. When I got down from the car the load was heavy. I took my brother Hratch’s pistol with the silencer and its color is white, and the next day I threw it into the sea in Karantina.

Q: There is a savings book and checks signed by Robert Boghossian in the safe. What did you do with it?
A: I also threw it into the sea and the garbage in Karantina, along with all the papers and documents that were with the stones.

Q: It has been found that there is a quantity of foreign currency as French franc and some other currencies. What did you do with them?
A: There was no foreign currency, and I remember that I took about seventy or eighty Lebanese pounds. And a savings book for Hrant that I threw into the sea.

Q: What is the quality of the stones that you stole? Did you sell some of them? As for the gold, what did you do with it?
A: The stones are diamonds, and colored stones, they remained like they were. As for the gold, I melted it and sold a part of it, and I bought dollars with it for a price of about three thousand, two hundred and forty-four dollars, and I put it with the gold that I melted into bars in the kitchen under the sink behind one of the wooden cupboards with the dollars.

Q: What is the role of your brother Panos and Hratch during the operation?
A: My two brothers carried out the operation and I did not see what the role of each one was because I was busy collecting the goods.

Q: Where is the address of your brother Panos and the whereabouts of Hratch?
A: Panos is not abroad, but in Beirut, the western region. I do not know the place. But as I told you, I am on a date with him this day. As for Hratch, he is in Cyprus, the city of Limassol, and he can be contacted at the phone number 26197 via the Lebanese Jamil Harij, and you can find out the address by asking my brother Panos who was there too.

I have nothing to add other than that.

Excerpt from the confrontation between Hratch and Panos Nahabedian, due to the contradictions in their confessions. On the 17th of April 1985, Judicial Police, Baabda department.

Due to the contradiction that occurred in the testimony of Panos and his brother Hratch, each one accusing the other of shooting and killing everyone, we brought Panos from his room and interviewed them as follows:

When Hratch entered the interrogation room, and Panos was in it, Hratch said: “We, Panos, went twice, the first was on Wednesday. You and I entered and you told me to shoot, but I was not able to do it. We went back to the factory. You told me that I was a coward. The first day Raffi was not present. The next day we went the 3 of us and you took the pistol and when we entered it was you who began to shoot. I came to you when you first started to shoot. You took the owner of the factory to the inner room and killed him and you asked me to take Hani there too but then you took him by his hand and you shot him, then you killed the old Avedik. Your jacket was all bloody and we went back to the car. We stopped at the side of the river near the vegetable market and you asked me to throw the jacket and the guns into the river, I wasn't wearing a jacket and I was wearing a gray sweater and you were wearing a shirt with a jacket over it, and why does blood seem to come on me?”.

As for Panos, he replied: “Hratch, you were the one who killed, not me”. As for Hratch, he said to him: “You are afraid to tell the truth. You are the one who shot. And if it’s because your child is going to be born soon, then I was the one who killed. But the truth is that you are the killer. Don’t lie”.

And here we brought the third brother to the room, and when he entered, Hratch said to him: “When we were in the factory I had the Colt and I was holding Hani, and you told Hrant, we have kids and we want to live, and Hrant told you I give you whatever you want. If I wasn’t near how can I hear this conversation?”. Raffi agreed that this happened then he said: “You are my brother and Panos also is my brother”, and he began to cry. And Hratch continued: “When I opened the drawer, there was a golden piece. I gave it to you”. Raffi answered: “I opened a drawer, and Panos came and took Hrant to the second room and proceeded to kill him”. But Panos denied everything and told Hratch: “It was you who killed”, and Raffi continued crying and said: “I don't know”.

Panos replied : ”I did not shoot” but Hratch insisted that Panos was the one who shot….