Court upholds 20-year sentence for convicted murderer

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison for the murder of a woman. 

The Criminal Court in February convicted the defendant, identified as Y. M., of stabbing the victim to death while at her house on July 30, 2012.

The court said that the defendant met the victim, who was married, in 2012 and became friends with her.

“Their relationship developed and they had a sexual affair for seven months, although she was married,” the court maintained.

Several months before the incident, the defendant “regretted the illicit relationship and decided to leave the victim to marry another woman in accordance with the Sharia [Islamic law]”, court papers said.

“The victim did not approve of the defendant’s decision to end the relationship, started harassing him and filed several complaints which resulted in his imprisonment,” the court added.

On the day of the murder, the court added, the defendant and the victim met at her house and “discussed the fate of their relationship and that it should end, but the victim refused to end it”.

“An argument ensued and became heated, with the victim cursing the defendant’s mother, saying that she was behind the defendant’s decision to leave her,” the court said.

At that moment, the court maintained, “the defendant became enraged, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim repeatedly, but the knife broke, so he grabbed another knife and kept stabbing her until he was sure she was dead”.

“The defendant took the knife and headed to the nearest police station to turn himself in and informed the police about the incident,” according to the seven-page verdict.

The defendant had confessed in court and pleaded guilty to the charges and did not contest the ruling at a higher court, court papers said.

But any sentence over five years is automatically reviewed by the Cassation Court, which ruled that the Criminal Court’s verdict was sufficient and in accordance with the law.

The Cassation Court comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh, Daoud Tubelieh, Bassem Mubeidin and Hussein Sakran.