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Death penalty upheld for man who murdered father-in-law

By Rana Husseini - Aug 16,2017 - Last updated at Aug 16,2017

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 38-year-old man to death after convicting him of murdering his father-in-law in Maan Governorate in August 2015. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting the victim to death with a pump-action gun on August 1 while he was guarding a farm in Maan, 220km south of Amman, and handed him the maximum punishment. 

Court papers said the defendant, who also worked as a guard, was married to the victim’s daughter and they were “going through tough times”, which “forced his wife to return to her father’s home a few months prior to the incident”.

“The couple ended up being separated and the defendant, in an attempt to reconcile with his wife, asked for her to return home, but the victim [her father] refused,” court papers said.

On the day of the murder, the court maintained, the defendant borrowed a pump-action gun from a relative, took a taxi and went to the victim’s workplace, court papers added.

When he saw his father-in-law, the court maintained, “the defendant pointed the weapon at him”.

“The victim begged his son-in-law not to kill him and told him that he would return his wife to him, but the defendant responded by shooting him in the chest, reloading the weapon and shooting him again in the head,” according to court transcripts.

While the defendant was about to leave the farm, the court added, “he was surprised by the farm’s owner and other men who were coming to the facility and the murder was exposed,” according to court documents.   

The defendant had contested the Criminal Court’s ruling asking for a lower punishment, claiming that “he did not plot the murder and it was just the spur of the moment”.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s general attorney asked the higher court to uphold the verdict because “the court proceedings were correct and the defendant deserved the punishment he received”.

The Cassation Court rejected the defendant’s claims that he did not plot the murder, stating that it was clear to the court “that the premeditated elements were present in this case and that the defendant deserved the death penalty”.

 

 The Cassation Court comprised judges Basil Abu Anzeh, Naji Zubi, Mohammad Ibrahim, Bassem Mubeidin and Mohammad Tarawneh.

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