Man’s death sentence upheld for father’s murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to death after convicting him of murdering his father in Amman in December 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of premeditatedly murdering his father by beating him with a wrench and strangling him to death with his hands following “a heated argument” on December 26.

The defendant was handed the death penalty.

Court documents said the defendant was a “troublemaker and would often abuse his father physically because he had a strong built”.

“The defendant lived with his father, who was separated from his mother in Zarqa, and would often physically abuse the victim,” court papers said.

As a result, court documents maintained, “the victim moved to Amman to escape the abuse inflicted on him by his son”.

On the day of the incident, the court said the defendant visited his father in Amman and the two ate dinner together.

“The victim tried to fix a gas heater with a wrench when an argument ensued between the two,” according to court papers.

The defendant overpowered his father, snatched the wrench and “beat his father repeatedly on his head with the heavy tool”.

“The defendant then choked his father by pressing on his neck until he made sure he was dead and then left,” the court added. 

The following day, the court added, the victim’s sister contacted the defendant expressing her fear that something had happened to her brother because he was not answering her calls.   

“The defendant pretended to be worried and went to look for his father,” court papers said.

The defendant, through his lawyer, claimed that the prosecution failed to provide evidence that would connect the defendant to the murder.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general had asked the higher court to uphold the death sentence ruling, stating that the court abided by the proper legal procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The Cassation Court ruled that the Criminal Court’s judgment fell within the law that the proceedings were proper and the sentence given was satisfactory.

The higher court stated that it relied on DNA and crime lab results that connected blood spatters found on the defendant to the victim.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Majid Azab, Fawzi Nahar, Ibrahim Abu Shamma and Hayel Amr.