NeverPersonal
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Just gonna compile some of the concerning & interesting developments.
Saudi sisters: Crucifixes found in Alsehli siblings' Canterbury unit | Daily Mail Online
One of the employees from their building management company told Daily Mail Australia there were two crucifixes found on the floor of one of the bedrooms.
It is unclear whether the crosses belonged to the women, or if they indicated they had renounced Islam.
Sources reveal contents of Canterbury apartment where Saudi sisters, Amaal and Asra Alsehli, found dead - ABC News
The ABC has confirmed that the sisters had applied for a protection visa with the Department of Home Affairs, and they had been in contact with a settlement service for refugees.
Michael Baird, a director of Sydney's Transparent FM Building Management which manages the Canterbury apartment block, said he was aware that the young women were concerned about their safety.
In a January 2022 email sent to the site manager, younger sister Amaal asked if building management could check the security cameras as she feared someone had tampered with a recent food delivery order.
Mr. Baird said his first interaction with the women had taken place earlier this year when their car had been "keyed".
"We believed that it was not a personal attack to them because they'd parked their car in an unusual position. And somebody's obviously taken offence to it," Mr Baird said, about the incident.
His second interaction with the women was when he organised for a plumber to visit their apartment.
"When [the plumber] came out of that unit, he said that he was concerned that there was something untoward happening in the apartment. He got a very bad vibe," Mr Baird said.
"He was pretty shaken up. He said, 'I'm never coming back to that apartment again'."
Mr Baird asked the local site manager to contact the police at the time and he understood that the women had subsequently told police they were fine. [MY NOTE: ah, so this is why there was a welfare check - they freaked out the plumber... i'd like to hear from him]
Another building worker told the ABC that he knew that the women had noticed a man watching their apartment from across the street.
The worker, who is familiar with the building's residents, said he'd also seen an unknown Middle Eastern man inside the building on two occasions in the months leading up to the sisters' death.
The building worker said when he asked the man which apartment he was from, the man gave the women's address.
[Their neighbor and friend] Rita said the sisters' mother had visited Australia on one occasion.
"Their mum came here once. She didn't like it. Then she went back to her country," Rita said.
The young women led a discreet life. They didn't have many visitors, apart from a man Rita believed to be Asra's boyfriend, an "Iraqi man with a beard".
At the time of publication, Rita said the police had not interviewed her or her family. The police also have not interviewed the building manager.
Saudi sisters Asra, Amaal Abdullah Asehli: Sydney man who was hit with restraining order speaks | Daily Mail Online
The man told the Daily Telegraph he struck up a non-romantic friendship with Asra after 'meeting her on the street', before a 'small fight' led her to contact police and take out an AVO.
'We had an argument, you know, like friends do...she was afraid so she contacted the police,' the man told the newspaper. 'Then the three of us went to the police, me, her and Amaal (Asra’s sister) and we told them what happened.
'We went to court [in 2019], the three of us and I told the judge what happened. Amaal explained it was just an argument and Asra was frightened but there was no problem anymore.'
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the man had anything to do with the mysterious circumstances that led to the sisters' deaths.
The man said he had not spoken to the sisters for about two years and was 'upset' and 'shocked' to learn of their deaths.
He said he has spoken to the police and told them everything he knows about the women.
For weeks, NSW Police assured media the sisters 'well-connected' family in the Saudi kingdom were 'cooperating' and 'helping' with the investigation.
It has since been alleged that the family blocked detectives from releasing photographs of the women as part of a public appeal to shed light on the baffling case.
Police were unable to explain a delay on the release of toxicology reports which usually takes four to six weeks, despite previously insisting the findings were being 'fast-tracked'.
'That is a matter for the coroner,' police said in response our inquiries.
Until now, investigators always insisted the family were cooperating with investigators and had 'no reason' to believe the Alsehli sisters fled their homeland.
The coroner has not released the bodies of the sisters to their family, although it is understood they could be buried in Sydney.
They were also reported to have renounced Islam and became atheists. One had a boyfriend in Sydney.
Detective Inspector Claudia Allcroft insisted there was 'nothing to suggest' their family was involved in their deaths.
The women were not known to be part of any dissident Saudi networks.
The landlord said the sisters, who it reported fled Saudi Arabia in 2017 with $5,000 during a family holiday, both attended TAFE in Wetherill Park.
They also both worked doing traffic control for a Sydney building company.
'I was shocked when I saw their photos, I have no idea how this could have happened. They were very cute and friendly girls, we never had any problems with them,' their landlord told The Guardian.
The mysterious deaths have made waves on social media, with many Middle Eastern locals asking why the sisters felt the need to escape the Saudi Kingdom.
One man said the women exposed themselves to danger when they left their homeland: 'Do not leave Saudi Arabia in search of freedom. You will not find it.'
Both women registered ABNs in 2018 for sole trading to a Wetherill Park address, in Sydney's west, but police still can't confirm what they did for work.
They also drove a black BMW coupe which normally costs upwards of $38,000, and lived in a modern, two-bedroom $490-per-week apartment.
There were also three welfare checks carried out by police in the months before the girls were finally discovered in separate beds of their first-floor unit as mail piled up outside their door.
2017:
2020: They frequently visited a service station around their flat, with locals describing them as 'friendly'.
2022:
Saudi sisters: Crucifixes found in Alsehli siblings' Canterbury unit | Daily Mail Online
One of the employees from their building management company told Daily Mail Australia there were two crucifixes found on the floor of one of the bedrooms.
It is unclear whether the crosses belonged to the women, or if they indicated they had renounced Islam.
Sources reveal contents of Canterbury apartment where Saudi sisters, Amaal and Asra Alsehli, found dead - ABC News
The ABC has confirmed that the sisters had applied for a protection visa with the Department of Home Affairs, and they had been in contact with a settlement service for refugees.
Michael Baird, a director of Sydney's Transparent FM Building Management which manages the Canterbury apartment block, said he was aware that the young women were concerned about their safety.
In a January 2022 email sent to the site manager, younger sister Amaal asked if building management could check the security cameras as she feared someone had tampered with a recent food delivery order.
Mr. Baird said his first interaction with the women had taken place earlier this year when their car had been "keyed".
"We believed that it was not a personal attack to them because they'd parked their car in an unusual position. And somebody's obviously taken offence to it," Mr Baird said, about the incident.
His second interaction with the women was when he organised for a plumber to visit their apartment.
"When [the plumber] came out of that unit, he said that he was concerned that there was something untoward happening in the apartment. He got a very bad vibe," Mr Baird said.
"He was pretty shaken up. He said, 'I'm never coming back to that apartment again'."
Mr Baird asked the local site manager to contact the police at the time and he understood that the women had subsequently told police they were fine. [MY NOTE: ah, so this is why there was a welfare check - they freaked out the plumber... i'd like to hear from him]
Another building worker told the ABC that he knew that the women had noticed a man watching their apartment from across the street.
The worker, who is familiar with the building's residents, said he'd also seen an unknown Middle Eastern man inside the building on two occasions in the months leading up to the sisters' death.
The building worker said when he asked the man which apartment he was from, the man gave the women's address.
[Their neighbor and friend] Rita said the sisters' mother had visited Australia on one occasion.
"Their mum came here once. She didn't like it. Then she went back to her country," Rita said.
The young women led a discreet life. They didn't have many visitors, apart from a man Rita believed to be Asra's boyfriend, an "Iraqi man with a beard".
At the time of publication, Rita said the police had not interviewed her or her family. The police also have not interviewed the building manager.
Saudi sisters Asra, Amaal Abdullah Asehli: Sydney man who was hit with restraining order speaks | Daily Mail Online
- Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were asylum seekers
- They jumped on a plane from Saudi Arabia to Sydney, via Hong Kong, with $5k
- Five years after arriving in Sydney, they were found dead in their unit in June
- Asra took out an AVO against a man in 2018 - but the matter was dropped in 2019
- The man said he met Asra in the street and struck up a non-romantic friendship
- He said she took out an AVO after they had a 'small fight' but it was revoked
The man told the Daily Telegraph he struck up a non-romantic friendship with Asra after 'meeting her on the street', before a 'small fight' led her to contact police and take out an AVO.
'We had an argument, you know, like friends do...she was afraid so she contacted the police,' the man told the newspaper. 'Then the three of us went to the police, me, her and Amaal (Asra’s sister) and we told them what happened.
'We went to court [in 2019], the three of us and I told the judge what happened. Amaal explained it was just an argument and Asra was frightened but there was no problem anymore.'
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the man had anything to do with the mysterious circumstances that led to the sisters' deaths.
The man said he had not spoken to the sisters for about two years and was 'upset' and 'shocked' to learn of their deaths.
He said he has spoken to the police and told them everything he knows about the women.
For weeks, NSW Police assured media the sisters 'well-connected' family in the Saudi kingdom were 'cooperating' and 'helping' with the investigation.
It has since been alleged that the family blocked detectives from releasing photographs of the women as part of a public appeal to shed light on the baffling case.
Police were unable to explain a delay on the release of toxicology reports which usually takes four to six weeks, despite previously insisting the findings were being 'fast-tracked'.
'That is a matter for the coroner,' police said in response our inquiries.
Until now, investigators always insisted the family were cooperating with investigators and had 'no reason' to believe the Alsehli sisters fled their homeland.
The coroner has not released the bodies of the sisters to their family, although it is understood they could be buried in Sydney.
They were also reported to have renounced Islam and became atheists. One had a boyfriend in Sydney.
Detective Inspector Claudia Allcroft insisted there was 'nothing to suggest' their family was involved in their deaths.
The women were not known to be part of any dissident Saudi networks.
The landlord said the sisters, who it reported fled Saudi Arabia in 2017 with $5,000 during a family holiday, both attended TAFE in Wetherill Park.
They also both worked doing traffic control for a Sydney building company.
'I was shocked when I saw their photos, I have no idea how this could have happened. They were very cute and friendly girls, we never had any problems with them,' their landlord told The Guardian.
The mysterious deaths have made waves on social media, with many Middle Eastern locals asking why the sisters felt the need to escape the Saudi Kingdom.
One man said the women exposed themselves to danger when they left their homeland: 'Do not leave Saudi Arabia in search of freedom. You will not find it.'
Both women registered ABNs in 2018 for sole trading to a Wetherill Park address, in Sydney's west, but police still can't confirm what they did for work.
They also drove a black BMW coupe which normally costs upwards of $38,000, and lived in a modern, two-bedroom $490-per-week apartment.
There were also three welfare checks carried out by police in the months before the girls were finally discovered in separate beds of their first-floor unit as mail piled up outside their door.
2017:
- Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, are believed to have fled Saudi Arabia during a family holiday
- They have $5000
- They flew to Sydney, via Hong Kong, and made contact with a refugee centre.
2020: They frequently visited a service station around their flat, with locals describing them as 'friendly'.
2022:
- Police conducted two welfare checks early in the year.
- In one of the checks, the pair were described as 'timid' and refused to let anyone enter the apartment.
- They eventually allowed officers to enter, but stayed huddled together in the far corner of the unit.
- The owner of their Canterbury unit filed a civil case against Asra on May 13.
- That action was taken four weeks after sheriff's officers went to the apartment to serve the women with an eviction notice.
- Officers conducting a welfare check made the grisly discovery.
- There was no sign of forced entry.
- Police believe the sisters died in May, but have not been able to determine a cause of death.
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