The Wacky World Of Murder: Khalil Abu Olbeh




Khalil Abu Olbeh	VICTIMS: 8
Usually I don't like to add religious or wartime killers to this site but for some reason (possibly the method and the unplanned nature of the crime) I liked this one enough to ad it to the site. By the time you've reached the bottom of this page I'm sure you'll all agree that Khalil Abu Olbeh is a worthy addition to the Wacky World of Murder. So what did Khalil Abu Olbeh do for a living? He drove buses from Gaza to Tel Aviv which he was bale to do as he held a special working permit for Israel. By February, 2001 Abu Olbeh had rarely been able to work because of Israeli security closures imposed after violence erupted in September, 2000. I guess you could say he was unhappy at not being able to feed his family. So, why is a bus driver on this site? I guess that's a pretty stupid question, he killed people. How? With a bus. Huh? On Feb. 14, 2001, Khalil Abu Olbeh, who had driven a group of Palestinian workers from Gaza to Tel Aviv, spotted Israeli soldiers and civilians waiting at a bus stop in Azur, just south of Tel Aviv. So he turned his bus around, sped up and rammed into the crowd. He killed seven soldiers - three men and four women - and a female civilian. Twenty-one other people were injured in the crash. After ramming the Israelis, Abu Olbeh led police on a 22-mile high-speed chase. One of the officers shot him in the chest, and he crashed the bus into a truck. He was badly injured in the crash and ended up waking up in hospital with one leg missing. Why did he do it? He told police he ran into the soldiers because he was angry over the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army. "I saw the soldiers and I remembered what they are doing to us with tanks and helicopters and planes and missiles in Gaza," he said in his testimony to the court. So, what happened to him? On May 15, Abu Olbeh was found guilty of eight counts of premeditated murder and 21 counts of causing grievous bodily harm. On May 31, 2001 he was sentenced to eight life terms as well as a further an additional 21 years.
MY OPINION At the moment I guess the whole Arab thing is a pretty touchy subject for some so I'd better be careful with what I say. So I'll just comment on it purely from a mass murder fan perspective. I'd say this is a pretty good effort. 8 dead and a pretty bizarre weapon of choice always gets me interested. Another thing about this case is that I don't think it was pre-meditated. The man wasn't a 'terrorist', he was just an angry bus driver who disliked a certain country for hurting his people. He decided in a split second it was time for him to take a stand and he went for it. For what it's worth, I have to agree with him on who the bad guys are in the current conflict.