Sisters sentenced to death for murder of man, domestic helper

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced two Zarqa sisters to death after convicting them of robbing and murdering a 72-year-old man and his Filipina domestic helper at their home in a west Amman suburb in February 2017, a senior judicial source said.

The two defendants, aged 33 and 31, were standing trial for the premeditated murder of the man and his domestic helper, who were found murdered on February 5.

The apartment the victims were in, on Madina Munwara Street, was also set on fire.

"Justice was served today by the Criminal Court for the two victims who were killed over two years ago," the senior judicial source said. 

Court papers said the victim posted an advertisement in a newspaper asking for a female cook and the two defendants spotted the ad.  

The two women left Zarqa and came to Amman, one of them claiming to be a cook so that they could enter the house, according to court papers.   

During the negotiations, the source maintained, an argument ensued and “one of the sisters smacked the Filipina domestic helper, aged 34, with a big mug on her head repeatedly and stabbed her”, according to court transcripts.

“One of the suspects then attacked the man with a cologne bottle he owned and smashed his head with it,” the court added.

The two sisters reportedly searched the house, “took the victim’s mobile phone, JD800 and attempted to open a safe but failed to do so”, according to the court transcripts.

"The women then set the house on fire in an attempt to conceal the crime by burning their [victims’] bodies, but the Civil Defence Department firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze before it reached the victims,” the source added.

The suspects also “destroyed the victim’s mobile phone, thinking that the police would not know who called him last, then headed back to Zarqa to stay with their mother, until they were caught by police,” the court said.

Thursday's verdicts will be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.