20-year sentence upheld for ex-cop who murdered sister’s ex-fiancé

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld an October Police Court ruling sentencing a former police officer to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering his sister’s ex-fiancé in Tafileh in April 2014.

The Police Court had found the man guilty of stabbing the victim while he was in his car in the Rihab area of Tafileh, 180km southwest of Amman, on April 24, 2014, and handed him the maximum prison term.

The court also found the defendant guilty of violating the police code of honour by not ensuring law and order or respecting his duties.

The court decided to amend the premeditated murder charges originally pressed against the defendant to manslaughter, “because it was proven to the court that he did not plot the murder”.

Court papers said three years before the incident, the victim got engaged to the defendant’s sister, but the engagement was broken off shortly afterwards due to feuding.

Since then, according to the court papers, “the victim would constantly harass his ex-fiancé and her family and would often threaten or curse her.” 

Three month before the incident, the court papers added, the ex-police officer heard that the victim was allegedly “spreading nude photos of a woman, as well as voice clips, claiming that it was that of the defendant’s sister”.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the convicted man’s sister “called him and informed him that she received a harassing phone call from her ex-fiancé”.

“The defendant grabbed a kitchen knife, learned of the victim’s whereabouts and obstructed him by placing rocks on the road,” the court stated.

When the victim pulled over, the court added, “the defendant headed to his vehicle and stabbed him repeatedly, while telling him that he violated his sister and family’s honour”.

The ex-police officer fled the scene and the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

The convicted man had contested the Police Court ruling stating that he should “benefit from a reduction in penalty, as stipulated in Article 98 of the Jordanian Penal Code, because he committed the murder in a moment of rage”.

“The victim committed a dangerous and unlawful act that violated his family and sister’s honour, which caused the defendant to lose his temper and kill him in a fit of fury,” the convicted man’s lawyer had contested.

Meanwhile, the Police General Prosecutor had also contested the ruling, seeking a higher punishment, since it was clear that the “defendant had plotted the murder”.

“The defendant had placed rocks on the road to force the victim to stop his vehicle and stabbed him repeatedly in fatal points, as well as telling the victim before killing him “I did not come to your house to kill you,” the Police General Prosecutor stated.

However, the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling in October, ruled that the Police Court’s ruling falls within the law, that the proceedings were proper and that the sentence given was satisfactory.

The Court of Cassation comprised President of the Court of Cassation Judge Hisham Tell and judges Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Bassim Mubeidin and Brig. Gen. Fawaz Maayatah.