23-year-old charged with manslaughter of older brother

AMMAN — A 23-year-old was charged on Saturday with the manslaughter of his older brother following a brawl earlier in the same day in Ruseifa, official sources said.

The 38-year-old victim was struck in the head with a blunt object and repeatedly stabbed by his younger brother following an argument at around 3am on Saturday, according to Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi and a senior judicial source.

The victim was residing with three other siblings, including the suspect, in an apartment, the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

On Friday night, the source maintained, the suspect returned from work at around 11pm and engaged in a heated argument with the victim.

“The suspect claimed that the victim raised a pan to hit him so he defended himself and hit him with a blunt object on his head,” the judicial source said.

The suspect then grabbed a knife and stabbed him 22 times in the chest, the judicial source said, adding that “when he saw that his brother was still alive, he slit his throat”.

The suspect then asked one of his neighbours to help him take his brother to hospital, the judicial source added, based on witness accounts and testimonies by the suspect.

“One of the neighbours volunteered and brought his vehicle, so the suspect asked him to open the trunk to place his brother in it, and he asked the neighbour to help him bury his brother,” the judicial source said.

The neighbour was shocked, but pretended to go along with the plans and “asked the suspect to return to his house and wash himself so that they can go afterwards, and he immediately alerted the authorities”, according to the judicial source.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Omar Hiayri ordered the suspect to be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation.