Syrian electrician charged with wife's premeditated murder

AMMAN — A 49-year-old Syrian electrician, who reportedly murdered his wife over the weekend in Rusiefa, was charged with premeditated murder on Saturday, official sources said.

The suspect, who is a refugee registered with the UNHCR, reportedly stabbed his wife once in the back on Friday following a domestic dispute, Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The 47-year-old victim died instantly, Sartawi told The Jordan Times

A senior judicial source said the couple had a heated argument a day earlier and “it was renewed on the day of the incident. The victim left to stay with her daughter in a nearby home”. 

“The husband grabbed a knife and followed his wife to her daughter’s house,” the judicial source, who is close to the investigations, told The Jordan Times.

The suspect approached his wife, who was in the kitchen working and turned her back to him, and stabbed her once in the back, the judicial source added.

“The victim died instantly because the stab penetrated her heart,” the source explained.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Mohammad Bdairat, who is handling the case, charged the suspect with premeditated murder and ordered his detention at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation, according to the judicial source.

Bdairat also ordered that the suspect remain under medical surveillance because there are claims he “suffered from mental problems and epilepsy”.

“The suspect will be under surveillance by government physicians to determine if he is fit to stand trial.  Meanwhile, investigations will continue,” the judicial source explained.

Once Bdairat concludes the investigations, the suspect will be referred to the Criminal Court for trial. The tribunal will decide to “either proceed with the trial or refer the suspect to a panel of three government psychiatrists to determine his mental status”, the judicial source added.

The family, which left Syria in 2011 following the unrest, is survived by three daughters, who are all married, and a six-year-old boy, the judicial source said.

The family also lost a boy before leaving Syria, the source added.