Man charged with murder after charred body of woman found in Amman

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Tuesday charged a man with premeditated murder in connection with the alleged killing and immolation of a woman in her home in Amman earlier in the day, official sources said.

The victim’s charred body was found by Civil Defence Department (CDD) rescue teams who were called to extinguish a fire in a house in the Nazal neighbourhood, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“After extinguishing the fire, CDD personnel located a charred body of a female victim,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The body was transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) for an autopsy, and forensic experts determine that it was a homicide.

The police official said that the autopsy revealed that the victim “died of strangulation”.

“A special team was tasked with following up on the incident and were able to zero in on a male suspect who knew the victim,” according to the police official.

The suspect was summoned and reportedly “confessed to murdering the woman over a dispute”, according to Sartawi.

The police official would not elaborate on the nature of the dispute, and said that investigations are ongoing.

The suspect also claimed that he “set the house on fire to conceal the murder”, Sartawi added.

A senior judicial source told The Jordan Times on Tuesday evening that the Criminal Court prosecutor started questioning the suspect to learn more about the murder.

“The prosecutor levelled premeditated murder charges, and is currently hearing the testimony of the suspect,” according to the senior judicial source.

The prosecutor also ordered that blood and tissue samples taken from the victim be sent to the crime lab for further analysis, the judicial source stated.

The Criminal Court prosecutor ordered that the suspect be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation, according to a statement that was made available to the press by the Public Security Directorate.