Man charged with double-murder of sister and nephew

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Saturday charged an ex-convict with two counts of premeditated murder in connection with the alleged fatal stabbing of his 60-year-old sister and their nephew in an Amman suburb over the weekend, official sources said.

The victim, a mother of five children, and her three-year-old nephew were reportedly stabbed by the 55-year-old suspect while at her home in Muwaqqar on Thursday night, a senior judicial source said.

The victim’s 34-year-old sister-in-law, who was also in the house at the time of the incident, was also allegedly stabbed multiple times by the suspect and was listed in critical condition, the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

In his initial statement in front of Criminal Court Prosecutor Tayseer Bani Khalid, the suspect claimed that he “murdered two people during fights in the past, in which he was sentenced to 15 years in one incident and received an amnesty in another case because he reached a settlement with the victim’s family back in the 1990s”, the judicial source, who is close to the investigations, explained.

Due to his previous convictions, the judicial source maintained, “he was unemployed when he was recently released from jail and needed money”.

On Thursday night, the source added, the suspect went to his sister’s home to ask her for money “but he claimed that she started cursing him and calling him a killer”, the judicial source added.

The suspect claimed that he became enraged by her remarks and “drew a switchblade and stabbed his sister repeatedly, then attacked his sister-in-law and her son, who was on her lap, with the same weapon, then fled,” said the judicial source.

The suspect allegedly stabbed his sister five times on different parts of her body, while the child, who was in his mother’s lap, was stabbed three times in the stomach, a medical source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect then fled the scene and was later arrested in Ruseifeh by a team of police who were tasked with tracking him down,” the judicial source stated.

The suspect was ordered detained by Bani Khalid at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation, the judicial source said.

“Bani Khalid is still questioning more witnesses and relatives of the family members before referring the case to the Criminal Court for trial,” the judicial source explained.