Man sentenced to death for murder of Madaba taxi driver

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Sunday sentenced a 24-year-old man to death after convicting him of robbing and murdering a taxi driver in Madaba in June 2012.

The court also sentenced a 20-year-old man to 15 years in prison after convicting him of complicity in the premeditated murder and robbery of the 27-year-old taxi driver.

“The defendants stood motionless upon hearing the presiding judge read their verdicts,” a senior judicial source, who attended the hearing, told The Jordan Times.

Both men were standing trial at the Criminal Court on charges of the premeditated murder of a taxi driver in the Wadi Heidan area in Madaba Governorate, 30 kilometres southwest of Amman, on June 20.

Court papers said the defendant plotted to murder the taxi driver because “they thought he was an informant for the authorities”.

“The defendants were illegal drug users and believed that the victim was working as an undercover informant for the authorities and had informed the authorities that they were users,” the court documents said.

On the day of the murder, the court maintained, the defendants pulled over the victim and asked him to give them a lift to a remote area.

“On the way, they asked him to stop and following a brief discussion, the older defendant pulled a gun and the victim attempted to run away but he was shot to death,” according to court papers.

The defendants then dragged his body over 400 metres, buried it under rocks, took the victim’s mobile and left, the court maintained.

The victim’s body was found four days after the murder in the Wadi Heidan area, while his taxi was discovered in a deserted area in Madaba two days after his disappearance.

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