2 men get death penalty for killing septuagenarian

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a street vendor to death after convicting him of robbing and murdering his 72-year-old relative in Tafileh in October 2017.

The court declared the defendant guilty of the premeditated murder of the victim, a sheep merchant, after luring him to a deserted area in Qadisieh town with the intent of robbing him on October 27, and handed him the death penalty.

A second defendant, who is military personnel, was tried separately at a military court on the same charges and received the death penalty.

Court documents said the defendant owned a coffee kiosk where the second defendant, the military personnel, would often visit.

"The two decided to rob the victim, who was their relative, because they knew he carried a lot of cash with him," court papers said.

On the day of the incident, the court said, the two defendants lured the victim to a deserted area where they struck him with a wooden stick and a rock on his head repeatedly.

The two then stabbed him multiple times on his chest to make sure that he was dead, court papers added.

"The two men searched the victim’s wallet and found JD409, which they split in half," court papers said.

They left the area and disposed of the wooden stick, the rock and the knife in several trash dumpsters, according to court papers.

The victim was reported missing by his family and his body was discovered almost a month later, the court transcripts said.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage of the area where the victim was last seen, investigators saw the victim riding in the vehicle of one of the defendants, the court papers said.

The defendant was summoned by police and he confessed to murdering the victim with the help of the second defendant, the court papers added.

The defendant, through his lawyer, contested the capital punishment, charging that the investigation procedures “were not carried out in accordance with the law” .

"The defendant confessed to murder charges without the presence of a lawyer," court transcripts said.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general had asked the higher court to uphold the death sentence ruling, stating that the court abided by the proper legal procedures when sentencing the defendant.

The Cassation Court ruled that the Criminal Court’s judgement fell within the law, that the proceedings were proper and the sentence given was satisfactory.

"Investigators asked the defendant if he wanted a lawyer to be present when he made his confessions and he refused," the higher court ruled.

Therefore, the higher court added, the investigation procedures are within the law.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Bassem Mubeidin, Hammad Ghzawi and Mohammad Khashashneh.