October 3, 2026
Real estate disputes that lasted for about five years in the town of Al-Sawana in the Jbeil District turned into a murder that claimed the life of Hassan Khalil Shuqair, 63 years old, following a dispute that occurred on the evening of September 18, 2026. The victim is Hani Shuqair’s uncle and a neighbor of the family, and his house is located opposite a property inherited by Shadi, Hani’s son, making it the focus of ongoing disputes, complaints, and lawsuits between the two parties.
Against the background of the investigations supervised by the Public Appeal Attorney in Mount Lebanon, Judge Bilal Adnan Badr, the latter charged Hani Shuqair and his three sons, Shadi, Fawzi, and Mahdi, with premeditated murder, based on Article 549 of the Penal Code, and referred them as detainees to the first investigating judge in Mount Lebanon, Judge Nada Al-Asmar.
The investigations, which included unpacking the phones and reviewing the surveillance cameras, revealed a text message that Shadi sent to his brother Fawzi on July 17, that is, two months before the incident, in which he expressed his willingness to pay money to burn Hassan’s house and beat him. Shadi admitted writing the letter, citing a “moment of anger” after Hassan filed complaints against him, denying the existence of any executive intent. However, the Public Prosecution considered the letter evidence of planning and sharing of roles.
In details on the day of the incident, the dispute was renewed after Hassan parked his car in a place designated for emptying gravel and sand on the property. Hours later, his screams were heard and he was found lying on his back with a wooden stick broken into four parts next to him. His nephew, Yasser Shuqair, reported that he heard his uncle naming Hani, Shadi, and Mahdi as his attackers, indicating that he did not witness the incident personally, but rather reported it from the victim.
On the other hand, the detainees gave a different story. The youngest son, Mahdi, claimed that he went alone to ask Hassan to move the car away, and a fight ensued in which Hassan attacked him with a stick that broke during the confrontation, so Mahdi was able to grab it and strike Hassan’s head. The father and his sons confirmed that Hani, Shadi, and Fawzi did not participate in the attack, and that the problem was limited to Mahdi and Hassan and took only a few seconds, which partly intersected with the testimony of a witness who confirmed the absence of Hani and Shadi at the moment of the problem.
However, digital evidence raised questions again. While surveillance cameras showed Fawzi’s presence in Jbeil at the time of the incident, they revealed his phone conversations with his fiancée and his saying: “Mahdi and Shadi are eating it, and God Almighty is a disaster,” as well as an audio recording discussing the forensic doctor’s report, noting that General Security had arrested Shadi at Rafic Hariri International Airport as he was leaving for Riyadh, and seized three phones and $3,300 in his possession, before Hani, Fawzi and Mahdi surrendered themselves. Successively.
Medically, the forensic doctor’s report confirmed the presence of bruises, wounds, abrasions, and fractures in the left rib cage caused by a solid object, in addition to an increase in troponin in the blood, which confirms that the victim suffered a heart attack before his death. The judicial dilemma comes to determine whether violence was the cause of death or heart attack, and whether the incident was an accident or an episode in a series of previous threats and disputes.
Accordingly, the file is now in the custody of the investigating judge to complete the procedures, after the decision to arrest the father and his children and seize their phones to subject them to technical examination, while the presumption of innocence remains established until a final judicial ruling is issued.
