Police search for remains of woman allegedly murdered by relatives in 2009

AMMAN — Police on Monday said they are searching for remains of a divorced woman, allegedly murdered in 2009 by her brothers and father at their family’s home in Amman, reopening a cold case, senior official sources said.

The Cold Case Unit at the Public Security Directorate (PSD) received information that a woman was allegedly murdered by her father, who died in 2021, and three of her brothers while at her home in an eastern Amman neighbourhood, a senior judicial source said.

“Investigators received a tip-off from a family member that the three brothers and their father murdered their divorced female relative, who was in her 20s, by strangling her and then burying her body in the Wadi Mujib area,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The family never reported their female relative missing and instead claimed to their neighbours and family members that “she left to a neighbouring country”, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“We checked our records and concluded that the woman never left the country as her family claimed and her whereabouts are unknown, so we summoned the three brothers for questioning,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The police official said that the three brothers reportedly “confessed to murdering their sibling by choking her to death then driving to the Wadi Mujib area where they buried the body”.

“We are currently combing the area in search of the woman’s body,” Sartawi said.

He added that investigators are currently questioning family members and neighbours to learn more about the reported disappearance of the woman.

The prosecution office at the Criminal Court did not level any charges against the three brothers pending further investigation, the senior judicial source said.

“No charges will be filed against the suspects until a body is found and more evidence is collected in the case of this missing woman,” the senior judicial source stressed.

Meanwhile in an unrelated case, the Criminal Court prosecutor charged a shepherd with premeditated murder in connection with the alleged shooting death of his sister on July 24 in the Balqa Governorate, according to the senior judicial source.

The victim was reportedly shot over five times by her brother while at their family’s home following a domestic dispute, according to the senior official source.

In his initial statement to investigators, the suspect claimed that “he shot his sister because he disapproved of her marriage”, according to the senior judicial source.

“We are currently questioning family members to gather more information about the shooting incident,” the senior judicial source added.

The suspect was ordered detained by the Criminal Court prosecutor for 15 days pending further investigation.