George and Michel Tanielian

Born into an Armenian family with three other brothers (Aziz, Movses and Maurice) in Qamishli, Syria, the entire family immigrated to Lebanon at an unknown period of time. According to some news reports, two of the brothers had engaged in violent behavior during the Lebanese Civil War and were subsequently imprisoned on murder charges, but later released in 1992 under general amnesty.[1] It is unclear which of the five brothers were responsible. All of the brothers were reported as delinquents and were often seen drunk in their Beirut neighborhood of Nabaa,[3] while one of them (reported as either Michel or George) was once imprisoned for 5 years for drug possession.[4]

The five brothers lived in the same building, but in different apartments, and all but George and Michel had dual Lebanese citizenship.[4] Despite their oddities, the brothers were regarded as introverted and mysterious, but nice and polite by their neighbors. Michel, in particular, was described as "a nice guy who likes to have fun, go clubbing and get drunk," who was often visited by a foreign female neighbor. That neighbor had a child, and Michel would claim that it was his.[5]

Typically, the brothers would search for taxis in the Matn District at night, and when they found a suitable target, they would board it, with George sitting in front and Michel at the back.[2] Once they reached a remote location, George would tell the driver to pull over so he could relieve himself. As soon as the victim pulled over and George exited, Michel would pull out a 7.85mm pistol and shoot the driver.[3] After robbing the body, they would set the car on fire. Alternatively, they sometimes just dumped the bodies by the roadside and commandeered the vehicle to attract other victims, whom they also robbed and killed.[2]

The killings frightened the local population, and the authorities had huge difficulties with the case, as the culprits did not leave any kind of reliable forensic evidence or fingerprints behind.[6] Agents from the Information Branch dressed up as taxi drivers in effort to capture the killers in the act, but without success. One agent managed to engage the brothers, but both of them fled before he could do anything.[2]

Shortly after Deeb's death, however, investigators got a clue - the deceased's phone was recently used. The call was traced to al-Nabaa, and the police learned that it was being used by a minor, whose father said that he had bought it from a man named George Tanielian. All five of the brothers were arrested in suspicion, as well as their mother being brought in for questioning.[4] Eventually, the elder Michel cracked and confessed to the crimes, as well as two other attempted murders,[4] with the participation of his brother George.[6] The pair were charged before a military court, and subsequently sentenced to death.[2]