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Member of 'Beatles' Islamic State group is convicted in Americans' deaths A jury
convicted a British national for his role in hostage-takings that took roughly
two dozen Westerners captive a decade ago, resulting in the deaths of four
Americans, three of whom were beheaded.
NATIONAL SECURITY
A MEMBER OF ISLAMIC STATE GROUP KNOWN AS 'BEATLES' IS CONVICTED IN AMERICANS'
DEATHS
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April 14, 20222:53 PM ET
The Associated Press
Enlarge this image
A jury convicted a British national El Shafee Elsheikh for his role in an
Islamic State hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners
captive a decade ago. Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP hide caption
toggle caption
Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP
A jury convicted a British national El Shafee Elsheikh for his role in an
Islamic State hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners
captive a decade ago.
Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury convicted a British national Thursday for his role in
an Islamic State group hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen
Westerners captive a decade ago, resulting in the deaths of four Americans,
three of whom were beheaded.
In convicting El Shafee Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was one of the
notorious "Beatles," Islamic State captors nicknamed for their accents and known
for their cruelty — torturing and beating prisoners, forcing them to fight each
other until they collapsed and even making them sing cruel song parodies.
Surviving hostages testified that the Beatles delighted themselves rewriting
"Hotel California" as "Hotel Osama" and making them sing the refrain "You will
never leave."
LAW
BRITISH ISIS MILITANTS CHARGED IN KILLINGS OF AMERICAN HOSTAGES
The guilty finding came even though none of the surviving hostages could
identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Although the Beatles had distinctive
accents, they always took great care to hide their faces behind masks and
ordered hostages to avoid eye contact or risk a beating.
Prosecutors suggested in opening statements that Elsheikh was the Beatle
nicknamed "Ringo" but only had to prove that Elsheikh was one of the Beatles
because testimony showed that all three were major players in the scheme.
Sponsor Message
Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian defense Forces in 2018,
eventually confessed his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media
interviewers, acknowledging that he helped collect email addresses and provided
proof of life to the hostages' families as part of ransom negotiations.
But testimony showed that he and the other Beatles were far more than paper
pushers. The surviving hostages, all of whom were European — the American and
British hostages were all killed — testified that they dreaded the Beatles'
appearance at the various prisons to which they constantly shuttled and
relocated.
Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a time in the summer of 2013 when he
and cellmate David Haines were put in a room with American hostage James Foley
and British hostage John Cantlie for what they called a "Royal Rumble." The
losers were told they'd be waterboarded. Weak from hunger, two of the four
passed out during the hourlong battle.
The jury deliberated for four hours before finding Elsheikh guilty on all
counts. Elsheikh stood motionless and gave no visible reaction as the verdict
was read. He now faces up to a life sentence in prison.
Several victims' family members, who were present throughout throughout the
three-week trial, fought back tears as the guilty counts were read.
NATIONAL SECURITY
A MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN ISLAMIC STATE BEHEADINGS OF U.S. HOSTAGES
"Praise God! I'm so thankful," said Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley,
after the verdicts came in. "I'm so proud of the American justice system. El
Shafee Elsheikh was treated with a great deal of mercy. He had four attorneys.
... Hopefully we were able to turn this into justice, not revenge."
She contrasted what she said was the stellar work of the prosecution with what
she said was the inaction of government to bring Foley and the other Americans
home when they were hostages.
"When we really needed to bring the full force of the government to bear to
bring them home, that failed," she said. "They were abandoned."
She said she hopes the case brings attention to the more than 60 Americans who
are being held hostage or wrongly detained around the world.
The convictions on all eight counts in U.S. District Court in Alexandria
revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: Foley, Steven Sotloff,
Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped
beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple
times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the
Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Defense lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group but
said prosecutors failed to prove he was a Beatle. They cited a lack of clarity
about which Beatle was which, and back in the trial's opening statement cited
the confusion about whether there were three or four Beatles.
THE TWO-WAY
U.S. 'REASONABLY CERTAIN' TERRORIST 'JIHADI JOHN' WAS KILLED IN DRONE STRIKE
Prosecutors said there were three — Elsheikh and his friends Alexanda Kotey and
Mohammed Emwazi, who all knew each other in England before joining the Islamic
State.
Emwazi, who as known as "Jihadi John" and carried out the executions, was later
killed in a drone strike. Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together in 2018 and
brought to Virginia in 2020 to face trial after the U.S. promised not to seek
the death penalty. Kotey pleaded guilty last year in a plea bargain that calls
for a life sentence but leaves open the possibility that he could serve out his
sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in the U.S.
Kotey will be formally sentenced April 29. Elsheikh will be sentenced Aug. 12.
But on Thursday the judge in the two cases, T.S. Ellis III, ordered that
Elsheikh appear at Kotey's hearing as well so that he will hear victim impact
testimony that will presented ahead of Kotey's sentencing.
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