They caught him..

As Flint awaits the arrival of a suspected serial killer, questions are emerging about his life in the United States and his native Israel, where authorities say he was a suspect in an attack earlier this year that is eerily similar to some of the assaults that left five Flint area men dead.

Elias Abuelazam is expected to be extradited soon to Genesee County to face charges stemming from numerous attacks in the Flint area. On Friday, the 33-year-old Israeli-Arab did not challenge his transfer from Georgia, where he was arrested Wednesday night just before he could board a plane for Israel.

“We want him back in Genesee County as soon as possible,” said Lt. Patrick McGreevy of the Michigan State Police.

Although suspected in 18 attacks, including three in Virginia and one in Ohio, he faces only one count of assault with intent to commit murder in connection with a July 27 attack in Flint. A conviction on that charge could bring a life sentence.

But as prosecutors plan additional charges against Abuelazam in Flint, Leesburg, Va., and Toledo, they are learning Israeli police identified him this year as a suspect in a stabbing there. He wasn’t charged, sources told Israeli media, because the victim declined to press charges.

Abuelazam lived in the Israeli town of Ramle, southeast of Tel Aviv, which has a mixed Jewish-Arab population; Abuelazam is an Arab Christian.

But his family in Ramle questioned whether the shy man they knew in Israel could be a cold-blooded killer in the United States.

“I wouldn’t believe it even if I saw it with my own eyes,” Abuelazam’s cousin, also named Elias Abuelazam, told the Associated Press. He said the news had devastated the suspect’s mother. “I was there last night. She couldn’t stand up … She was hysterical.”

But a senior Israeli police official said Abuelazam was believed to be the attacker in a stabbing months ago. The official said he and the close acquaintance got into an argument and Abuelazam pulled out a screwdriver and stabbed the other man in the face.

Ramle’s 3,000-member Arab Christian community is extremely tight-knit, and residents were cautious about discussing Abuelazam’s past. But some told other media in Israel he had a violent side and indicated he was sent abroad by his mother to escape his problems there.

McGreevy said Michigan authorities were just learning about Abuelazam’s potential past in Israel and were unaware if his problems there — as well as his criminal past here — should have affected his immigration status. He had a green card which allowed him to stay in the United States, as well as an Israeli passport that allowed him to travel between the two countries.

As the task force continues its work, they will leave a tip line open, he said. And he said they will likely talk with friends and family, including his ex-wife, who divorced him in 2007. Her father, Jim Hirth of Crowley, Texas, told reporters there were instances of verbal abuse and “other things.” He declined to detail what those were but said they contributed to the divorce.

During his hearing in Atlanta on Friday morning, Abuelazam appeared relaxed and said he was ready to challenge the accusations he faces. Although he didn’t understand the word “extradition,” he agreed not to challenge plans to bring him north.

“I will fight the case in Michigan,” said Abuelazam in a blue jail jump suit with his hand shackled.

Abuelazam is represented by Lansing attorneys Edwar Zeineh and Brian Morley, who were approached by Abuelazam’s family.

His uncle, who police have not identified, paid for the $3,000 plane tickets to take Abuelazam from Michigan to Israel; authorities have said he is cooperating.