Landlady recalls Saudi facilitator who brought 9/11 hijackers to her
Speaking to the BBC, Ratchford said she still struggles to reconcile the friendly man she knew with the allegations surrounding him. “It’s almost impossible for me to wrap my head around who he said he was, and who he really is. I still struggle with that,” she said. Ratchford said she had no reason at the time to suspect the men. They were nice, they were polite,” she told the BBC.
“There was absolutely nothing unusual about them.
Ratchford, who has provided a sealed declaration to the New York court, said she has been haunted by her connection to the three men for the past 25 years.
In an August 2025 ruling, a New York federal judge found that evidence created a “reasonable inference” that Bayoumi and a Saudi diplomat had been coordinating with the Saudi government while assisting the hijackers. Saudi Arabia and Bayoumi have denied the allegations and Saudi Arabia is appealing the ruling.