Man sentenced to death for murdering father in Wadi Araba

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to death after convicting him of murdering his father in Wadi Araba in December 2020. 

The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting and killing his father on December 6, and handed him the death penalty.   

Court papers said that a few months before the incident, the victim asked his son, the defendant, to help him plant some trees on a plot of land he was renting in Wadi Araba.

“The defendant went to help his father, but refused to continue working for him,” according to the court documents. 

The victim then beat his son to “encourage him to work harder”, the court said. 

The defendant became enraged, and returned to his home in Amman. He later returned to the Wadi Araba area “just to kill his father”, the court papers added.

On the day of the murder, the court maintained, the defendant learned that his father had gone hunting near his land, and went to find the victim.

“The defendant grabbed the shotgun that was with his father and shot his father at close range,” according to the court papers. 

The victim was struck by a single bullet to the head, killing him instantly, the court documents added. 

The defendant fled from the area and “informed his relative that he got rid of his father”, the court papers added. The defendant also asked the family member not to inform anyone, the court said. 

The defendant then pretended to look for his father, who had been reported missing, the court stated. 

However, the son became the prime suspect of the investigation after he located his father’s body, the court said.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling, charging that “the ruling depended on testimonies of unreliable witnesses”.

The defence also argued that the prosecution provided “weak evidence against my client”. 

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court general attorney’s office asked the higher authority to uphold the death penalty.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court had followed the proper procedures during sentencing, and that the defendant is deserving of the verdict.  

The Court of Cassation judges presiding were Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi and Qassem Dughmi.