Suspect questioned over stabbing death of pregnant woman in Zarqa

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor is questioning a plumber who allegedly murdered a 23-year-old pregnant woman in Zarqa on Sunday, senior official sources said.

The victim was reportedly struck with a hammer and stabbed repeatedly by the suspect while at his shop on Sunday, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said police received a tip-off that “a woman might have been murdered by a plumber and a special task-force was dispatched to the premises”.

“The task-force, which included investigators and a forensic specialist, found the body stuffed in a garbage bag,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The victim’s family and her husband had reported her missing on Sunday, according to the senior judicial source.

In his initial testimony to investigators, the suspect claimed that he “engaged in a heated argument with the victim and ended up killing her”, according to the senior judicial source.

The suspect claimed that he stuffed “the victim’s body in a garbage bag and was going to dispose of the body”, the senior judicial source said.

However, the suspect was arrested before carrying out any of his alleged plans because “neighbours complained of a foul odour that was coming from his shop”, the senior judicial source said.

Furthermore, the senior judicial source added that “a woman also came forward to police on Monday claiming that she saw the suspect acting in a strange manner and seemed worried”.

“Investigators zeroed in on the suspect based on the woman’s testimony and the neighbours’ complaints about the odd odour that was emanating from the suspect’s shop,” according to the senior judicial source.

A team of government pathologists, comprised of Ibrahim Obeidat, Mahmoud Zreiqat and Ibrahim Habbash, performed an autopsy and determined that she had been dead for around 48 hours, a senior medical source said.

“The victim received 22 stab wounds to different parts of her body and several blows to her skull,” the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

The cause of death was a single stab wound to the heart, which caused an internal bleeding, according to the senior medical source.

The victim was eight months pregnant, the senior medical source added.

Criminal Prosecutor Ayman Masalha supervised the post-mortem that was conducted by the government pathologists, the senior medical source said.

The suspect was ordered detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation.