El Cajon

The man accused of killing five of his relatives in El Cajon will go on trial sooner than his attorneys want because he refused to waive time for trial Friday.

Toufic (Tom) Naddi, 44, will be tried Dec. 3 in the June 1 slayings of his wife, her parents and two other relatives in their Fletcher Hills home.

Naddi unsuccessfully tried to fire his two court-appointed attorneys during a private chambers conference with San Diego Superior Court Judge Barbara Gamer.

Gamer told Naddi in court that his attorneys wanted more time to prepare for his case, in which he could receive the death penalty, but Naddi refused to give up his right to a speedy trial. Gamer reluctantly set the Dec. 3 trial date.

Naddi also told Gamer he opposed his attorneys’ request for an Arab interpreter, saying that such a request “made me look bad with the judges.”

Gamer disagreed, and said she would have an interpreter present for all proceedings.

Naddi again pleaded innocent to the shootings of his wife, Aida, 26; her father, Habib Sabbagh, 73; her mother, Lillian Sabbagh, 58; her brother, Michael Sabbagh, 38, and her brother-in-law, Osama Mashimi, 38.

Testimony from the preliminary hearing indicated that Naddi believed that his father-in-law was having an incestuous relationship with Naddi’s wife, who had just filed for a divorce.

Naddi is being held without bail in County Jail.