Two days after an Egyptian immigrant family was found bound and stabbed to death in their Jersey City home, hundreds of mourners gathered at the family's church yesterday, many chanting for justice and decrying the killings as a crime of religious hatred.
But the police would not discuss motives and said they were still searching for clues in the slayings of the family, Hossam Armanious, 46; his wife, Amal Garas, 36; and their daughters, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, who were found on Friday with their throats slit in the family's two-story home.
Mr. Armanious, who worked for the banquets department of the Westin Princeton hotel, had been threatened with murder by someone in an Internet chat room during an argument about Christianity and Islam, according to members of his church and other acquaintances. The authorities would not confirm or deny this, but they dismissed newspaper accounts that a tattoo of a cross on Sylvia's wrist had been slashed in the killing.
Still, the case has taken on a life of its own, threatening to localize a centuries-old schism between Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians. Members of the American Coptic Association, based in Jersey City, stood on the steps of the St. George and St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church on Bergen Avenue yesterday and handed out hundreds of fliers comparing the execution-style murder of the family with terrorist activities in the Middle East.
"Stop killing Christians!" yelled Monir Dawoud, the acting president of the association, who later that afternoon spoke at a memorial for the family. "Stop killing Americans in their homes!"
Though all four members of the family had tattoos of a cross on their wrists or arms, a Coptic Christian tradition, none of the crosses were slashed, said Gaetano T. Gregory, a prosecutor with the Hudson County prosecutor's office. While investigators would not discuss suspects or leads in the case, they said they had ruled out a possible dispute between the Armanious family and a former tenant.
In a new development, law enforcement officials said yesterday that money had been stolen from the house: Mr. Armanious' pockets had been turned out and his wallet was empty. "There was no cash in the house," Mr. Gregory said. "All that was left was a penny."
An autopsy of the victims revealed that all four had died from puncture wounds to their throats and necks, he said.
Ayman Garas, the brother of Ms. Garas, said he objected to the speculation over whether the murder was a hate crime.
"They were very peaceful," said Mr. Garas, 35. "They have no enemies."
F.B.I. agents are assisting with the investigation, said a spokesman in Newark. "With a multiple murder like this, it's not unusual for us to get involved and to help with manpower and lab work," said Special Agent Stephen Kodak. "It does not mean that a hate crime took place."
The Coptic Church is the principal Christian church in Egypt. Ten percent to 15 percent of Egyptians are members of the church, which has had a fraught history with the country's Muslim majority. The church's local leaders say the number of Coptic Christians in the United States exceeds 500,000.
The Armanious murders have made global news, eliciting condolences from around the Middle East. The leader of Coptic Christians, Pope Shenouda III, called from Egypt when he heard about the case, said Bishop David, who presides over the Coptic churches of the Northeast. Bishop David, who in keeping with religious tradition does not use a second name, visited the Bergen Avenue church yesterday and told congregants not to jump to conclusions about the slayings. He said several Muslim leaders had called him with condolences.
"Everything we can do to make peace we will do," Bishop David said after the memorial service, flanked by reporters and church members as he stood on the sidewalk. "I cannot make speculations. This is the job of the police."
Several Muslim leaders in the area plan to attend the family's funeral today, which will begin at 10 a.m. with a procession of the four coffins from Journal Square to a service at a community center four blocks away that is affiliated with St. George and St. Shenouda Church. Police officers began planning yesterday for the procession, which the church expects will draw thousands.
Some Muslim leaders expressed fear that the murders would create divisions among Arab immigrants.
"Since Sept. 11, the Arab and Muslim community has been trying quite hard to build bridges between Arab Christians, Muslims and Jews," said Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim who is on the board of Women in Islam, a New York organization, and plans to attend the funeral. "I'm really concerned about what this is going to do to the relationships that we have developed."
Bishop David said the church's members, about 2,000 families, have expressed deep fears since the killings.
"Many have felt that if this happened to one family it could happen to them," he said.
Throughout the day, the four-story church echoed with grief. Hundreds of people, cloaked in black, filled the building for the regular Sunday services. Friends of the young victims huddled crying as red-eyed adults shook their heads and embraced one other.
"Each Coptic feels today he lost four from his own family," said Emad Attaalla, 45, who said his daughter was Sylvia's best friend. "She does not eat since I give her the news."
At the end of a service on the church's top floor, one man stood alone as people slowly filed out the door. The man, Juan Jose Salazar, 48, was not a church member. When asked why he was crying, he stood unable to speak for several minutes, sobbing so forcefully that he shook.
Finally, he explained that he and Mr. Armanious had worked together for five years in the banquets department of the hotel. Ms. Garas worked for the Postal Service.
"He was so proud of Sylvia because she was one of the best students," said Mr. Salazar. "What was their crime? All he did was come to this country to work 16 hours a day, driving one hour each way, to give his children a better life."
An impromptu memorial adorned the front of the Armaniouses' wood-framed house at 85 Oakland Avenue. Throughout the day, friends and strangers came there with religious candles, balloons, flowers and birthday cards for Sylvia, who was to celebrate her 16th birthday on Saturday.
One card, taped to a fence in front of the house, read, "You will be in our hearts, and we will never forget you and all you have done."