Flight of suspect raises questions
Sept. 7 was a bad day for Moshe Journo.
Dormont police arrested Journo, 39, an Israeli national, at his store, Mo-Gear, on Potomac Avenue for the alleged rape of a teen girl the previous day at his former girlfriend's tanning salon.
As he was led away in handcuffs, Journo was defiant.
Journo told police the girl came on to him. She is 15 years old.
"He was whining and complaining," said Dormont police Sgt. Jim Burke.
District Justice Blaise Larotonda set a $25,000 cash bond, which Journo posted the next day with the help of his brother, Rani. Larotonda said he set the amount because of Journo's family and business ties to the area.
Those few hours at the Allegheny County Jail might be the only time Journo spends behind bars.
That's because authorities never seized his Israeli passport. Authorities suspect Journo used the passport to flee to Israel, where family and friends could be hiding him.
The episode has prompted a rash of soul-searching by those involved in the case.
In particular, Journo's disappearance has prompted the Dormont police to question why none of the judges involved demanded Journo surrender his passport after his arrest.
"Maybe we can assume it was our fault," said Dormont police Chief Russ McKibben. "But we were assured his passport was taken, but it wasn't."
McKibben said it was beyond his officers' authority to seize Journo's passport. During Journo's arraignment, his defense attorney, Kenneth Haber, argued Journo needed the passport to run his store.
Larotonda said Journo's lawyer made a persuasive argument his client needed the passport for business. Larotonda also said there was no indication Journo would flee.
"There was no evidence brought to me, by cops or anybody else, that he was a flight risk," Larotonda said.
"In fact, the district attorney took over the case two days later, Journo made bond, and everything was up to the Common Pleas judge after that," he said. "The DA tried their best."
A spokesman said Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office had little involvement in Journo's case because he never showed up for his preliminary hearing Oct. 14. Spokesman Mike Manko said Journo was supposed to hand in his passport on that day.
Indicating how the wheels of justice sometimes move slowly in Western Pennsylvania, a formal warrant seeking Journo's arrest only found its way to the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office last week, more than a month after he disappeared.
The Israeli government has yet to receive a request to begin looking for him. The standard procedure in such cases is for the U.S. Justice Department to make a formal request to the Israeli Interior Ministry, but so far that hasn't occurred, says David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C.
A check of records of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services since Oct. 1 has no record of Journo taking a flight from the United States to Israel. Records indicate Journo's brother Rani flew to Israel on Oct. 11.
It was Rani Journo who sold the inventory of Mo-Gear in a hurried transaction to Chris Carter, who says he bought the merchandise for a song. Rani approached Carter the night of his brother's arrest.
"Rani showed up in a panic, saying Moshe was in trouble and that he needed money fast so he can pay for a lawyer and get out of the country," Carter said, pointing out that he has since renamed the store Go-Wear.
"Rani said, 'They got my brother, and they're going to get me too, my visa is running out,' " Carter said.
Officials say Rani Journo is not a suspect in the case.
As for Moshe Journo, "I have no idea where he is," said his sister, Aliza Estrin, of Mt. Lebanon.
Estrin, a school teacher, says her brother's troubles have tarnished the family name. She said she is still smarting after being stiffed for the $10,000 she invested in Mo-Wear, a store selling hip-hop urban wear.
"I'm done with him," she said. "My family and I haven't done anything, and we're paying a terrible price."
Dormont police recently searched her home looking for the fugitive. Her brother Rani returned to Israel in shame, she said, his dreams of building a better life for himself shattered by the charges leveled against Moshe.
Moshe Journo "was a weak person to begin with," Estrin said. "He never got it together, and now he's self-destructing. He's a lot of things, but he's not a rapist."
Moshe Journo came to Pittsburgh 15 years ago to follow his dream of becoming a clothing mogul, Estrin said. After finishing high school in Israel, he did his compulsory four-year stint in the Israeli Defense Forces and then followed his sister to the United States.
But Moshe Journo was no businessman. He fell in with a rough crowd, police said. His businesses went belly-up almost as soon as he opened them, his sister said. A cell phone outfit he founded flopped, and Mo-Gear was failing.
In fact, Journo was living in his store. Journo's criminal record includes arrests for receiving stolen property, making terroristic threats and stalking, police said.
He apparently was popular with the ladies, fathering one child with an ex-wife and a son and daughter with former girlfriend, Jenny Santorella, whose tanning salon is next door to Mo-Gear.
"I had nothing to do with it. And the whole thing is affecting my business," Santorella said.
Meanwhile, Journo's 3-year-old daughter constantly asks where her daddy is.
"What do you tell a 3-year-old?" Santorella said.
Dormont police Sgt Burke is biding his time.
"We're here, waiting for him, and we believe he will eventually show up," Burke said.
