Arrest Made in Murder of SDB Priest

Arrest Made in Murder of SDB Priest

This story comes from ANS, dated Feb. 22.

The Tunisian police have arrested Chokri Ben Mustapha Bel-Sadek El-Mestiri, suspected of being the one who murdered Fr. Marek Rybinbski. He was a handyman working at the Salesian school in Manouba and is believed to have killed Fr. Rybinski because he could not repay a sum of money.

The arrest was reported by the Tunisian authorities Monday evening, February 21.

Inquiries indicated that El-Mestiri, a 44-year-old Tunisian employed as a handyman at the Salesian school in Manouba, had received a sum of 2,000 dinars, about 1,000 euros ($1,350), three months ago from Fr. Rybinski, to buy material for some maintenance work to be done in the school. He did not purchase the material, however, and afraid of being found out, killed Fr. Rybinski.

According to the official inquiry, the circumstances of the crime indicate that on the day of the murder, the accused asked Fr. Rybinski to go to the storeroom in which the body was eventually found. The killer took the Salesian by surprise and stabbed him in the back of the neck and in the throat, causing his death.

The Tunisian minister of the interior, denouncing the cowardly attack, expressed his own appreciation for the fact that there was no sign of any political or religious involvement in the crime.