Ajloun man found dead in cesspool, suspect detained

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Thursday charged a 33-year-old Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) sanitation worker with premeditated murder in connection with the murder of his colleague in Ajloun governorate last week, official sources said.

The 34-year-old GAM employee's body was found by the police in a cesspool in Sakhra town, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Investigators are questioning the victim's wife, who reported her husband missing almost four days ago, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

"Investigators and Criminal Court Prosecutor Abdullah Assaf questioned the victim's wife and came to the conclusion that she might have a hand in her husband's disappearance," the judicial source said.

The wife, who has not been charged "for the time being", informed detectives about the suspect, after which he was summoned for questioning, the judicial source explained.

"Upon questioning the suspect, he confessed to stabbing the victim once in the chest and dumping his body in a cesspool near his home," the judicial source added.

An autopsy conducted at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) indicated that the victim died of a single stab wound to the chest, the NIFM Director Adnan Abbas said.

Abbas told The Jordan Times that the body of the victim was badly decomposed and estimated that he has been dead for at least four days.

Assaf instructed investigators and forensic specialists to extract blood and tissue samples from the victim's body for further analysis, the judicial source explained.

In the meantime, Assaf ordered that the suspect be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigations, according to the judicial source.

The Criminal Court prosecutor also ordered the detention of the victim's wife, pending further investigation into the murder, the judicial source explained.

"The victim's wife has not been charged, but the prosecutor is currently questioning her and other witnesses in the case to determine her role," the judicial source added.