Posted on 12/16/2002 9:25:42 AM PST by Thinkin' Gal
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The Criminal Court sentenced a 40-year-old man to 15 years in prison Sunday, after convicting him of murdering his pregnant wife in Hashemi Shamali in June 2001 following a domestic dispute.
Faisal K., a taxi driver, was being tried for the shooting death of his pregnant 34-year-old wife at their Hashemi Shamali home on June 3.
Court papers said the couple — married for 14 years — had been separated off and on for two months beginning in April 2001.
On the day of the murder, the court transcript read, the defendant asked his wife to return to their home “in a bid to reunite for their children's sake.”
After drinking an alcoholic beverage, the victim informed her husband she was pregnant and he was the father. The defendant did not believe her and became upset and suspicious since she had not informed him immediately about the matter, the record revealed.
“An argument ensued and Faisal asked his wife to get out of the house and return to her sister's home in Zarqa, but she refused. He then drew a gun and shot her three times in the head and chest,” the court said.
The couple's four children were in the house when the murder occurred, the court added.
Following the shooting the defendant took his children to his family's home, asked his brother to contact the police, and then sat on the front step of his house smoking and drinking coffee with the gun in his hand, according to the transcript.
A judicial source told The Jordan Times Sunday that the defendant claimed in court he killed his wife to “cleanse his honour after he became suspicious the child was not his since his wife did not inform him immediately of her pregnancy.”
“He brought one of his wife's friends to testify in court that the victim had been engaged in immoral relations and had a bad reputation,” the source said.
The court, however, rejected the assertions after DNA tests proved the defendant was the biological father of the baby, the source pointed out.
The court also relied on the defendant's initial testimony in front of police and the criminal prosecutor, when he testified he killed his wife when, after an argument, she refused to leave the house.
The defendant also tried to submit a medical report claiming he was suffering from depression, but the court also rejected this claim, ruling he was sane and fit for trial.
Sunday's verdict, handed down by justices Mohammad Ibrahim, Nathir Hiari and Azam Obeidat, will automatically be reviewed by a higher court within the next 30 days.
Monday, December 16, 2002
I thought Alcoholic beverages were a no-no in Islam...???
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