BEIRUT: A Syrian man accused of killing 28-year-old Myriam al-Ashkar in a monastery in the area of Kesrouan earlier this week initially refused to admit to the crime and attempted to mislead investigators, a security source told The Daily Star Thursday.

The man is also suspected of having been a member in a Syrian intelligence unit in Lebanon who had quit his post several years ago, the source added.

The body of Ashkar was found covered in blood Tuesday on the outskirts of Our Lady of the Annunciation monastery in Sahel Alma.

According to the source, the former Syrian intelligence officer, Fathi Jabr al-Salateen was working as a janitor at the monastery. “When he was first brought in for questioning, Salateen denied to the Internal Security Forces that he was involved,” said the source.

Ashkar was a frequent visitor to the monastery and according to her parents and fiance, she was there to pray when she was brutally attacked and murdered.

When investigators found pants covered with blood stains at the janitor’s apartment, the source said that Salateen refused to admit the blood belonged to the victim.

“He first told investigators that the blood was the blood of a goat ... an account that the investigators found difficult to believe,” the source explained.

Following a DNA test of two blood samples collected at the crime scene, the victim’s blood and the blood stains on the janitor’s pants matched.

According to the source, Salateen admitted to the police that he stalked Ashkar frequently at the monastery.

Ashkar, whose body was recovered after a day-long search and rescue operation by the army and ISF, was stabbed at least eight times in her chest and suffered other injuries

“But the latest medical tests indicated that Salateen did not rape Ashkar,” the source added.

Salateen moved to Sahel Alma and accepted a job at the monastery for a monthly salary of $600. He is originally from Hama, Syria.

In retelling the murder, Salateen told investigators that he first grabbed Ashkar on the chapel’s old stone staircase and then forced her into his room.

He described to the ISF how, after he brutally killed her, he attempted to get rid of the body.

“Salateen said he wrapped the victim in a burlap bag, carried her on his donkey to the woods surrounding the monastery and tried to dump her down a steep valley,” said the source.

“Ashkar’s body failed to reach the valley and got stuck in a tree ... and a Lebanese Army helicopter managed to find and recover the body from the tree,” the source added.

Though aware of informal security reports, the victim’s brother, Tony Ashkar told The Daily Star that his family is waiting for the official report.

“I call on the judiciary to speed up the investigations on the crime that took my sister’s life because this is a homicide that could have targeted any household anywhere in Lebanon,” said Tony.

According to Tony, all Lebanese will remain vulnerable to such criminal acts unless the judiciary moves swiftly to punish all perpetrators.

“The judiciary should give the criminal a sentence that would make an example of him to others,” he said.

Tony also called on the media to play a positive role in pressuring the judiciary to speed up investigations.

The security source said that the ISF might investigate the reasons behind the presence over several years of Salateen, a former member of the Syrian intelligence, just 2 kilometers from the headquarters of the Maronite Church in Bkirki.