Egypt’s prosecution referred on Saturday a suspect in the killing of a priest in St Mark’s Church in Shubra El-Kheima district to the Criminal Court in Cairo. The priest was killed almost two weeks ago.
The 54-years-old suspected church guard is accused of shooting dead the 65-year-old priest Makkar Saad Makkar over a personal dispute, according to the Qaliubiya security directorate earlier statement.
According to the statement, the guard previously asked the priest to give him some money to meet the financial demands of his daughters’ marriage based on a prior agreement.
The priest gave the guard EGP 1,000 but the suspect returned to ask for more money, the priest then rejected, the statement added. A dispute erupted, and subsequently the suspect shot the priest and ran away from the scene, the statement clarified.
The suspect turned himself in to police forces and admitted the crime, investigations revealed, adding that he also confessed to buying a firearm and hiding it inside the church to kill the priest.
The defendant faces charges of intentional murder and the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The Coptic Orthodox Church said that murder is a criminal act, asserting that an investigation is being carried out.
