Court charges man with premeditated murder of his 27-year-old wife

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Wednesday charged a taxi driver with premeditated murder in connection with the alleged slaying of his 27-year-old wife on the Karak Highway a day earlier, official sources said.

The victim, a mother of three children, received multiple gunshot wounds reportedly by her husband with a pump action gun following a car chase on the Karak-Qatraneh Highway, a senior judicial source said.

“The suspect chased his wife, who was riding with her sister, and crashed their vehicle from behind, causing their vehicle to veer off the main road in the Lajoun area,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The vehicle crashed into a cliff “and flipped over once as a result of the speed and crash impact”, according to the senior judicial source.

“The victim’s sibling managed to exit the vehicle and ran seeking help after seeing the suspect approaching their vehicle with a weapon,” according to the senior judicial source.

In the meantime, the suspect approached the vehicle and “shot his wife twice with a pump action gun”, the source added.

The suspect then jumped into his taxi and drove off returning to Amman, the senior judicial source added.

“The victim’s sister managed to reach a police patrol with the help of a motorist who stopped to aid her,” the senior judicial source maintained.

The police patrol chased the suspect back to Sahab area, where he resided and arrested him, the senior judicial source maintained.

Police officers found a pump action gun in the suspect’s vehicle, the senior medical source said.

The suspect and the victim are residents of Amman, and the mother of three was riding with her sister to visit their family in Karak, according to the senior judicial source.

A team of government pathologists headed by Iwad Tarawneh, Khaled Hawamdeh and Kamal Assasfeh at the Karak National Institute for Forensic Medicine (KNIFM ) performed an autopsy on the victim late Tuesday night, a senior medical source said.

“The forensic team determined that the victim died of two bullet wounds to the heart and back, the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times that initial investigations indicated that “the shooting incident occurred over marital problems”.

“The Criminal Court prosecutor is currently investigating the incident and questioning the suspect and the victim’s family,” Sartawi said.

The suspect was ordered detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre by the criminal court prosecutor for 15 days pending further investigation.