Death Squad Behind Khashoggi’s Suspected Murder Allegedly Includes Doctor Who Bragged About 7-Minute Autopsies
The full names of the Saudi death squad allegedly responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have been released, including a prominent doctor famous for conducting seven-minute autopsies — the exact amount of time it reportedly took to kill and dismember the Washington Post columnist.
After initially denying any involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, the Saudi government on Friday admitted that he was killed. As the BBC reported, Saudi state television reported that Khashoggi died in a “fight” and that 18 Saudi nationals were detained in response to the murder.
The same day, a separate report from the BBC named the 15 Saudi nationals who reportedly flew from Saudi Arabia just before Khashoggi disappeared. As the report noted, most of the men flew to Istanbul on two private jets hours before Khashoggi was scheduled to enter the consulate for paperwork needed to get married. The same group flew back to Riyadh later that same day.
Turkish officials believe all men are Saudi officials and intelligence officers, the report noted. The group allegedly includes 47-year-old Salah Muhammed A. Tubaigy, a forensic pathologist who completed a master’s degree at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
As the report noted, Tubaigy had previously given a newspaper interview where he described his ability to conduct autopsies in just seven minutes.
“In an interview, accompanied by a photograph of him wearing uniform, the doctor discussed a mobile laboratory that he had designed to allow pathologists to perform post-mortems in only seven minutes in order to quickly determine the cause of death of Muslims performing the Hajj pilgrimage,” the BBC report noted.
That is nearly identical to the circumstances of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, the Mirror noted. Turkish intelligence officials said that the screaming journalist was dismembered while still alive, killed, and decapitated — all within a span of seven minutes.
The Saudi team that murdered Khashoggi brought along a doctor of forensics to dissect and dispose of Khashoggi's body, according to a senior Turkish official. If true, that indicates the Saudis planned to murder Khashoggi. It was no accident. https://t.co/TGOC3ju4Vd
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) October 17, 2018
Tubaigy was identified as the man recorded on video instructing other members of the group to put on headphones and listen to music while Khashoggi was dismembered. Reports indicated he was included in the group so Khashoggi’s body could be dismembered and disposed. Saudi officials have not yet said where the journalist’s body was laid to rest.
Despite some initial reports that Jamal Khashoggi was killed in an interrogation gone wrong, a source told the Middle East Eye that the team was sent to Istanbul specifically to kill the journalist. The names of the rest of the members of the alleged death squad can be found here.
