The Islamic extremist responsible for the murder of a Jewish worshipper at a synagogue on Yom Kippur was revealed today to be a marijuana-using bigamist with a complicated love life involving multiple women.
Authorities stated that Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was out on bail for a rape charge when he attacked the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday, coinciding with the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar.
It’s now known that the attempted suicide attacker, who was shot by armed police, possibly had marriages with two different women and was frequently texting women on a Muslim dating platform.
He had at least one girlfriend, whom he connected with on the Muzmatch app, attempting to radicalize her with violent Isis videos and meeting her for covert encounters in a hotel.
Records indicate that the Syrian-born Al-Shamie fathered three children, all under the age of three, with one wife who departed the family home when their marriage ended roughly six months ago.
It was revealed yesterday that he might have also been wed to a white British woman, who embraced Islam four years prior and is over ten years his elder.
The woman, who works as a mental health carer for the NHS and the Mail is not naming, apparently wed Al-Shamie in secret, just two days after meeting him around a year ago.
According to The Sun she only told her family about their Islamic wedding after he was named by police as the Synagogue killer last week.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was shot dead minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. It is believed he had two wives and was a father of three children
Al-Shamie travelled to Britain with his family as a young child and was granted UK citizenship in 2006, aged around 16
In the wake of the terror stabbing, a third 18-year-old woman also came forward to say she was ‘groomed into a controlling relationship’ with Al-Shamie after they hooked up over Muzmatch.
She said he lied about his age to seduce her and the pair regularly met at a Premier Inn close to his home, in Crumpsall, Greater Manchester, because Al-Shamie lived with his mother and brother and didn’t want her ‘around his family.’
The woman claimed he repeatedly hit her, wanted her to wear more traditional dress and pushed his extremist views on her – even suggesting he wanted to join the terror organisation Isis – during their four-month on-off relationship.
She said he set up multiple accounts on the Muzmatch site under false names, such as ‘Valentino’ and ‘Ahmed’, and cheated on her with other girls he met online.
‘There were times when he would send me videos of him with other girls, and the girls were quite young,’ she told the Manchester Evening News.
The woman, who has since moved aboard, also claimed he sent her abusive massages and told her about his ‘rape fantasies’ and other ‘weird stuff.’
Greater Manchester police confirmed unemployed Al-Shamie, who was facing mounting debts, was being investigated in connection with a recent sexual assault and was due in court soon.
They said he also had previous criminal convictions but was not known to counter terror agencies.
Police are also thought to be investigating whether he was responsible for a death threat sent to Conservative MP John Howell over his support for Israel in 2012.
Melvin Cravitz, 66, was killed after Al-Shamie rammed his car into the synagogue gates before attacking worshippers arriving at the synagogue just after 9.30am.
Melvin Cravitz, 66, from Crumpsall, died in the deadly attack on Thursday
Adrian Daulby, 53, also died in the attack after being accidentally shot by police
Around 300 people attended Mr Cravitz’s funeral at 11.30am today at Agecroft Cemetery, in nearby Swinton.
Fellow worshipper Adrian Daulby, 53, also died after being accidentally hit by a police bullet when armed officers opened fired to apprehend Al-Shamie as he attempted to access the building.
Mr Daulby’s family said he died a hero trying to stop the crazed terrorist, who was wearing a fake suicide belt, from getting inside the synagogue where hundreds of people had gathered to pray for Yom Kippur. Three other men were also seriously injured and remain in hospital.
Al-Shamie is thought to have arrived in the UK as a young child and attended Crumpsall Lane Primary School and Crumpsall High School with his two younger brothers.
But he began smoking strong cannabis, known as skunk, as a teenager and would spend hours playing computer fighting games in his bedroom, a friend said.
He began a degree course in English, media and cultural studies at Liverpool John Moore’s University in 2011 but dropped out after 12 months.
The source added: ‘He was spending too much time smoking weed, working out and playing video games. It was probably why he dropped out of uni.’
More recently, neighbours said he spent his days in his flip flops and pyjamas and working out with weights in his garden.
Four people – two women and two women – who were arrested in separate raids in Crumpsall and Farnworth, in Bolton, on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism remain in custody for questioning.
