suspect. those tears had no effect on wilson, who now had magdi on tape paying hush money. and we know you paid them, okay? yes. wilson bored in. i m here to find out one thing what kind of person are you? because right now, we don t know. is magdi the type of guy that s a hard, cold, calculated murderer, that pays someone to kill his wife? what kind of person are you? i m just innocent person, just simple person, believe me. okay. magdi pleaded for sympathy. detective wilson was not sympathetic. i lost my wife. no. but it s your fault. you hired somebody. i not hire anybody. we recorded it. oh. we recorded the conversations with these guys. i m not lying. i m not lying. no, no, i need a lawyer to talk like that. no, you guys are going to trap me and stuff. no, no.
i always looked up to him. their dad was the classic hard working immigrant. magdi earned his license to become a respiratory therapist. then worked endless hours to keep a roof on his family s head and clothes on their backs. he came from a really poor country. for him, to come here, he was working real hard to build things up and try establish a life. magdi emphasized education. teaching both his sons math at an early age. he strove and saved to help them all prosper and they felt he would do anything to keep his family safe. he didn t want your family to get pushed around. not at all. it took many years of saving and investing but he finally put together enough home to buy this home in a gated community in westminster, a quiet town in california.
absolutely. he has food that expires and he hoards it. it is about collecting money. and never paying out. correct. his sons described magdi as not only obsessed with work and money but also a strict disciplinarian. did you love him? yes. were you scared of him? yes. from when i was a kid. i felt like there was a line and i didn t want to cross anything. the brothers say they saw what could happen when they crossed that line. one night when ryan came home past curfew when he was 13. they say magdi simply lost it. he threw me on the floor and started kicking me. my brother had to pull him off me. your brother kind of shielded you. he did. it sounds like you were closer to your brother more than your father. very much so. ryan rebelled, staying out late, smoking weed. richard was more dutiful but he, too, felt his father s wrath.
who was the middleman? on the eve of the trial, richard and ryan got ready for the big day. their suits were pressed. they reviewed their prior statements. and they weighed the consequences of what this moment meant. i m happy that we will get closure, but then it s just sad, because it s like, we lost our mom, and then in the same light, it s like, we lost our dad, too. their only surviving parent, the one they d lived in fear of for years, would be the one they had to face in court. part of me is scared of him, but also, part of me wants to stand up and let my voice be heard after all these years. so, i want to be strong. and so, the brothers walked into court together that first day of opening statements, standing strong, united in their quest for justice for their mom. magdi girgis conspired to
in spite of the damning testimony against magdi by his own sons, defense attorney rudy loewenstein tried to show jurors magdi did everything to provide a better life for them and his wife, ariet. his life was dedicated to his family and to making the american dream work for him. he was an immigrant who came with nothing and made something of himself. magdi had his flaws, and he had done some bad things, the defense said, but he did not have ariet killed. but then, what to make of those undercover tapes and magdi s apparent admission. i thought you got paid everything. would magdi take the stand to explain what he meant on those tapes? no.