The Manchester synagogue terrorist had been living a double life with up to three wives in separate towns before he carried out the attack, The i Paper has learned.
Jihad Al-Shamie was shot dead by officers outside Heaton Park Shul while carrying out an attack police believe was “influenced by extreme Islamist ideology”.
The 35-year-old, who was on bail for an alleged offence of rape committed earlier this year, appeared to have a complicated personal life, with multiple wives.
It is believed his first wife and young child were living with al-Shamie at his address in Prestwich.
According to reports, he had also married an NHS nurse in an Islamic ceremony.
The i Paper can now reveal he also had a third wife, another convert he had married in a religious ceremony.
A marriage certificate shows the pair married in January 2022.
Islamic marriages that take place in the UK are not legally binding under current UK law.
Investigators say that while they are still working to establish the “full circumstances of the attack”, their initial assessment is that al-Shamie was “influenced by extreme Islamist ideology”.
Eyewitnesses claim al-Shamie shouted “this is what they get for killing our children” while carrying out the attack, which killed two Jewish people and hospitalised four others, an apparent reference to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Police have said al-Shamie did not appear to be known to counter-terrorism officials before he attacked the synagogue, killing two worshippers on Yom Kippur.
This new evidence of his tangled personal life includes claims he was “controlling” in his relationships and that his life had begun to fall apart in the years before the attack.
Counter-terror police have been granted warrants giving them extra time to question four people arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
Two others, a man and a woman, were released without charge after being arrested last Thursday.
Syrian family moved to Manchester in 1990s
Al-Shamie was born in Syria but moved to Britain with his family in the 1990s when he was a young child.
He was granted UK citizenship in 2006.
The family initially lived in Crumpsall before later moving to Prestwich – both are areas of north Manchester with a large mix of both Jews and Muslims of different backgrounds.
Armed police on Middleton Road in Manchester after an attack at a synagogue (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Neighbours at al-Shamie’s home in Prestwich were shocked when armed officers stormed the small council house in the hours after his car and stabbing attack.
Few residents knew him or his family very well. The i Paper has seen evidence that he lived something of a nomadic existence across multiple locations in the North of England.
Al-Shamie’s primary residence was the three-bed home on Langley Crescent where he was sometimes seen exercising in the garden.
He is listed as having lived there with his brothers Jawad and Kenan and their father Faraj.
However, it is believed his first wife and young child were also living with al-Shamie at this address for some time.
A second wife in Nelson
In 2022, al-Shamie began an affair with a second woman in Nelson, a Lancashire town about 25 miles away from his family home.
A certificate shows the pair were married according to Islamic law in January of that year.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, says al-Shamie told her he was single and described him as “controlling”.
In April 2023, she discovered al-Shamie was already in a relationship and confronted him.
“Look I’m gonna be honest with you, I do have a wife and baby son at home,” he wrote in an exchange of messages between the pair.
“I didn’t tell u because I really liked you and wanted u to be my 2nd wife but I didn’t know how u wud react.”
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He later tried to convince his second wife to continue the arrangement.
“Look I know what I’m asking for is a lot and it’s not easy but I’m telling you the truth now because I want to be totally honest with you,” he wrote.
“I’m not lying when I say I love you. This can work if both party’s [sic] are aware and the truth is on the table. I’ll support you financially I promise. Just give me a chance.”
Al-shamie admitted his first wife was “jealous” but added: “its natural when a man has two wives jealousy happens.
“but she accepts it she’s known about us from day 1.”
The ‘Jay Shami’ alter ego
Despite appearing to want to maintain two relationships, al-Shamie also used dating sites where he referred to himself as “J” rather than “Jihad”.
His second wife claims he had multiple Facebook accounts and would often use the name “Jay Shami”.
He also appears to have used an address in Leeds.
Al-Shamie had a profile on a tutoring website where he claimed to be based in the West Yorkshire city and used the name “Jay Alshamie”.
He offered English lessons for £10 an hour.
According to The Sun on Sunday, al-Shamie also had a third relationship with a white woman in Bolton who converted to Islam four years ago.
It is believed that this woman, a mother-of-five, may also have married al-Shamie in an Islamic ceremony.
Neighbours believe al-Shamie’s first wife left their Prestwich home with his young son around six months ago.
Resident Kate McLeish, 38, told the Daily Mail that al-Shamie seemed to have become a “bit of a loner” recently and she overheard him arguing and swearing at a woman on the phone in his car.
He was also unemployed and insolvency records show al-Shamie was subject to a 12-month debt relief order taken out on 5 September last year.
Such orders, an alternative to personal bankruptcy, are for people who have savings or valuable items worth less than £2,000 in total and cannot repay their debts.
Father praised 7 October attack on Israel
Following the attack, al-Shamie’s father Faraj posted a statement on his Facebook page on behalf of the al-Shamie family condemning the attack as “heinous”.
Faraj appears to have worked as a trauma surgeon in war zones around the world.
Some posts on his page show he also allegedly praised the 7 October attack on Israel in 2023, writing “may Allah give you victory” in reference to Hamas.
Faraj deleted at least one post, including one posted last week, seen by The i Paper when it was still online, stating: “Bad news for Israel in the next few days, unfortunately no one can prevent what is written.”
In a stream of messages on 7 October 2023, and in the days after, Faraj wrote: “Group of fighters storming an Israeli army camp using simple means, namely balloons [paraglides] and motorcycles, prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Israel will not remain.”
s, seen by this paper and also translated by The Daily Telegraph, add: “Men like these prove that they are God’s men on earth, regardless of who leads them.
“May God protect Palestine and its heroic people. May God bless you and your men, the descendants of men.”
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