# Nicholas Berg...Why does this article say "believed to be beheaded"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061 "2006-06-09T14:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061/1 "2006-06-09T14:14:41Z")
Read paragraph 3 of this story. [Nicholas Berg](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060608/ap_on_re_us/al_zarqawi_berg) Why does it say, “believed to be beheaded”? I’ve seen the video of Berg. He 100% was beheaded. Does the press want to hide the fact that the video of his death is out there? What’s the spin on this? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061/2 "2006-06-09T14:21:51Z")
I think you’re misreading it. We are not absolutely sure who did the beheading, which is why it actually reads “believed to have been beheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.” ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061/3 "2006-06-09T14:58:27Z")
Correct. Whoever was actually beheading was wearing a mask in videos. > [@](#): > > Al-Zarqawi is believed to have beheaded two American civilians in 2004: Nicholas Berg, a 26-year-old businessman from West Chester, Pa., and Eugene Armstrong, a 52-year-old contractor from Hillsdale, Mich. Jack Hensley, a 48-year-old engineer from Marietta, Ga., was abducted at the same time as Armstrong and also killed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061/4 "2006-06-09T14:59:11Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I think you’re misreading it. We are not absolutely sure who did the beheading, which is why it actually reads “believed to have been beheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.” I see. The article has changed now, to make that clearer. Perhaps they read my thread? I had no idea that was supposed to actually be al-Zarqawi cutting his throat. Actually, the Wikipedia article on Nicholas Berg says there is some confusion as to if its actually Berg they are killing. It also mentions that Berg may have been dead when they cut his head off. Ughhh…I feel sick now. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicholas-berg-why-does-this-article-say-believed-to-be-beheaded/360061/5 "2006-06-09T15:04:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why does it say, “believed to be beheaded”? > > I’ve seen the video of Berg. He 100% was beheaded. Does the press want to hide the fact that the video of his death is out there? > > What’s the spin on this? I just re-read my OP. I misquoted. The original story said “Nicholas Berg is believed to have been beheaded in 2004.” I see now it is clarified to indicate that al-Zaqawi may have been the murderer.