Man sentenced to death for 'brutal murder' of brother

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced a 24-year-old man to death after convicting him of murdering his brother in Ruseifeh in September 2016.

The court declared the defendant guilty of “brutally murdering his 38-year-old brother by stabbing him over 20 times, crushing his jaw and slitting his throat while he was asleep on September 26,” a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The defendant appeared in total shock and attempted to explain why he committed the murder, but the tribunal informed him that he could appeal the verdict at a higher court,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Court documents said the victim and his sibling were residing in the same house with other siblings following the death of their parents.

“The victim and the defendant were constantly arguing about matters related to their family and, on the night of the murder, they engaged in a heated argument,” court papers said.

The defendant waited until his brother went to sleep, the court maintained, “then stabbed him 22 times on different parts of his body and, when he saw that his brother was still alive, he slit his throat”.

The defendant then asked one of his neighbours to help him bury the body, the court added, but the neighbour instead “turned him in to the authorities”.

“The defendant asked the neighbour to help him transport the body in his vehicle for burial. The neighbour pretended to go along with the plans and asked the suspect to return to his house and wash himself, and he immediately alerted the authorities," according to court documents.

The defendant had mentioned in front of several witnesses that he planned “to kill his brother one day because he was annoyed by him”, a second judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The Criminal Court tribunal comprised of judges Ibrahim Abu Shamma, Hassan Majal and Azzam Najdawi, and the Criminal Court Prosecutor Issam Haddid asked for the maximum punishment.

Sunday’s verdict will automatically be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.