Sentences reduced by half for two brothers who killed in-law in revenge crime

AMMAN  — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling sentencing two brothers to a reduced sentence after convicting them of murdering an in-law in a revenge crime in Sahab in June 2015.

The court declared the defendants guilty of murdering their relative on June 4 and handed the main suspect the death penalty and his brother, who was driving the getaway pickup, a 15-year prison term.

However, the Criminal Court decided to reduce the sentence of the brother who pulled the trigger to 15 years, while the other brother’s 15-year sentence was reduced in half because the victim’s family dropped charges against them.

Court papers said the victim’s uncle killed the defendants’ father in the Jordan Valley almost five years before the incident.

“The victim and his family had to move from the area they were living in based on tribal arrangements. They moved to Sahab but the defendants still plotted to kill him,” the court said.

A few weeks before the incident, the court maintained, the defendants monitored the victim’s daily movements.

On June 4, the court added, the victim was driving his vehicle to work but was stopped by the two brothers’ pickup truck.

“The main defendant descended from the vehicle and started shooting at the victim from a machinegun. The victim started running but fell, so the defendant followed him and fired several rounds at his head to make sure he was dead,” according to court documents.

The defendant then headed to the nearest police station and turned himself in claiming to have killed the victim on his own, the court maintained.

However, both the Criminal Court and the higher court relied on witnesses who were with the victim in the vehicle and people in the street who “testified that the second brother drove the pickup truck when the assault occurred”. 

Furthermore, the higher court ruled that the verdict was accurate and the defendant deserved the punishment he received. 

The Court of Cassation tribunal comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Daoud Tubeleh, Mohammad Beirudi and Mohammad Tarawneh.