Man charged with premeditated murder of 8-month pregnant woman

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Wednesday charged a plumber with one count of premeditated murder in connection with the alleged murder of a 23-year-old pregnant woman in Zarqa on Sunday, senior official sources said.

The prosecutor also charged the suspect with one count of causing the abortion of an unborn child since “the woman was eight-month pregnant”, the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect confessed to murdering the woman over old feuds,” the senior judicial source said without further elaboration.

The victim was reportedly struck with a hammer and stabbed repeatedly by the suspect while at his shop on July 16, a senior judicial source said in a recent interview.

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said on Tuesday that police received a tip-off that “a woman might have been murdered by a plumber and a special task-force was dispatched to the premises”.

“The task-force, which included investigators and a forensic specialist, found the body stuffed in a garbage bag,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The victim’s family and her husband had reported her missing on Sunday, according to the senior judicial source.

In his initial testimony to investigators, the suspect claimed that “he stuffed the victim’s body in a garbage bag, poured kerosene on it and was going to dispose of the body”, the senior judicial source said.

However, the suspect was arrested before carrying out any of his alleged plans because “neighbours complained of a foul odour that was coming from his shop”, the senior judicial source said.

Furthermore, the senior judicial source added that “a woman also came forward to police on Monday claiming that she saw the suspect acting in a strange manner and seemed worried”.

“Investigators zeroed in on the suspect based on the woman’s testimony and the neighbours’ complaints about the odd odour that was emanating from the suspect’s shop,” according to the senior judicial source.

A team of government pathologists determined that the woman, who received 22 stab wounds and had her skull crushed with a hammer, had been dead for around 48 hours, a senior medical source said.

The cause of death was a single stab wound to the heart, which caused internal bleeding, according to the senior medical source.

“Investigations are ongoing and the prosecution’s office summoned family members and relatives of both the suspect and the victim to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the senior judicial source said.