Suspect charged with murder of Zarqa taxi driver, ‘accomplice’ on the run

AMMAN — The criminal court prosecutor charged a 22-year-old man over the weekend with premeditated murder and robbery in the alleged fatal stabbing of a taxi driver last week in Zarqa governorate, official sources said.

Police are still searching for a second suspect in connection with the stabbing of the 33-year-old taxi driver, a father of two, in the Berien area of the Zarqa Governorate, 22km east of Amman.

“We have a good idea about the identity of the second suspect and it is a matter of time before we arrest him,” Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Ammar Hneifat charged the first suspect with premeditated murder and robbery, and ordered his detention at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation, a senior judicial source said.

In his initial testimony to the police and Hneifat, the first suspect said that he and his accomplice were intoxicated in Wasfi Tal Street on the night of the incident on April 17, the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect said they robbed a vehicle in the street and found a knife, which they took,” the judicial source said.

They flagged a taxi and reportedly asked him to take them to Berein, the judicial source added, and on the way “decided to rob his vehicle”.

“They asked the driver to enter a secluded area, and then demanded the keys of his vehicle. As he resisted, they stabbed him and slashed his neck in fear that he could identify them later,” according to the judicial source.

The suspects fled the area on foot “because the victim threw the keys away”, the source maintained.

Zarqa police and the criminal investigation unit “exerted a lot of effort, following up on cell towers and using various methods, including reviewing robbery suspects’ files to identify the suspects”, the judicial source maintained.

If convicted of the charges, the judicial source maintained, the suspects could receive the death penalty.

The victim is survived by his wife and two boys, aged 7 and 6, according to official sources.