Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
'House of Horrors': ‘Unhinged’ Philadelphia Man Allegedly Decapitated Wife
Ahmad Shareef is accused of murdering his wife, 41-year-old Leila Al Raheel, in their Philadelphia home.
A Philadelphia man is behind bars for the alleged brutal murder of a mother of two, whose severed head was discovered by police this week.
Ahmad Shareef, 34, has been charged with murder and abuse of corpse, after authorities say he decapitated his wife, Leila Al Raheel, 41.
On Nov. 29, Philadelphia police officers were dispatched to a home in the 300 block of Magee Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. after reports of a “person with a weapon,” according to a department press release sent to Oxygen.com.
At the home, police found Raheel’s “severed head” on the kitchen floor, Philadelphia outlet WTXF-TV reported. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A witness inside the home identified the Pennsylvania woman to authorities, per WSAZ-TV.
Shareef was taken into police custody after he was allegedly found hiding a short distance away from the home. A knife was recovered from the crime scene. A motive in the grisly killing hasn’t been released.
According to nearby residents, a number of adult men lived at the property. One neighbor described the tenants as erratic and disorderly, singling out Shareef in particular.
“The adults in that house are completely unhinged,” one neighbor told WTXF-TV. “And the man who [allegedly] did the decapitation, he is, I would say, the most unhinged of them all.”
Rahell had two young daughters, neighbors also said. They weren’t home at the time of the incident.
“It’s a house of horrors,” she added. “I feel bad for those children — it’s devastating.”
The neighbor added that she frequently often saw Raheel outside the home shoveling snow or putting up Christmas decorations.
“She’s carrying everything in the house, she’s taking out the trash, she’s raking up the leaves, she’s going to shovel the snow — they don’t do anything and there are grown men in that house,” the woman said.
“She was treated like a slave,” another resident said.
By mid-afternoon, police had swarmed the property. As nighttime descended, the front entrance stood eerily illuminated by Christmas lights and decorations.
No other information was released by authorities. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia police declined to comment on Friday afternoon.
It's unclear if Shareef has retained legal counsel to comment on his behalf.
