Woman sentenced to death for killing husband

AMMAN — The Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced a woman to death after convicting her of murdering her husband in Balqa governorate, in May 2014.

The woman broke down in tears upon hearing the verdict, read out by the presiding judge, a senior judicial source said.

“The defendant was quiet during most of her trial sessions over the past few months. But on Thursday, she burst into tears after the verdict,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The tribunal found the defendant guilty of stabbing her husband, who is also her cousin, 36 times in the chest with a kitchen knife while he was sleeping at their home, on May 31.

Court transcripts said that the defendant “fell in love with another man and decided to get rid of her husband”.

On the day of the murder, the court added, “the defendant waited until her husband went to sleep, then stabbed him repeatedly with a knife”.

“The defendant then rushed to her family, who lives in the same building, and started screaming and yelling that two thieves had entered their homes, killed her husband, and raped her,” the court verdict added.

However, investigators concluded that she was the prime suspect in the case, the court verdict stated, adding that, during questioning, “she confessed to the murder”. 

Investigators also relied on criminal lab results which indicated the woman was not sexually assaulted as she claimed, the senior judicial source said.

Upon checking her mobile phone records, investigators further concluded that “the woman was involved in an extra-marital affair”, according to the court verdict.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Ahmad Kanani had requested the tribunal to apply the maximum punishment to the defendant because she “carefully plotted the murder to get rid of her husband”.

The verdict will be automatically reviewed by the Cassation Court within 30 days.