Man sentenced to death for revenge killing

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to death after convicting him of murdering his former neighbour to avenge the killing of his brother in an eastern Amman suburb in August 2016.

The higher court also acquitted another man on charges of hiding a fugitive for lack of evidence.

The court declared the defendant guilty of premeditatedly shooting and killing the victim on August 14 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court documents said the defendant’s brother was killed by the victim and his brothers in 2015, and eventually the entire family had to move to a different neighbourhood.

A few weeks before the incident, the court maintained, the defendant learned that the victim was released from prison and “decided to take revenge”.

“The defendant started monitoring the victim’s movements and bought a handgun,” according to court documents.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant followed the victim, who “took a ride with his friend in a mini-van”, court papers said.

When the vehicle pulled over at a traffic light, court documents said, the defendant covered his face with a hood, descended from the vehicle and ran towards the mini-van. He “grabbed him from the head and fired eight bullets targetting his chest and stomach”.

The defendant ran back to his vehicle and sped off, court documents maintained.

“The defendant went to his neighbourhood and announced to everyone who was in the street that he was happy because he had avenged his brother’s murder, and asked his family to inform him if the victim was dead or not, since he had left in a hurry after shooting him,” according to court documents.

Meanwhile, the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital by a Civil Defence Department ambulance, but was declared dead upon arrival.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, arguing that he “did not plot the murder”.

“The shooting was in the spur of the moment and happened only when the defendant spotted the victim in a vehicle near him, descended from the mini-van and shot and killed the victim,” the defence argued.

The defence also argued that the defendant knew the address of the victim and “he could have killed him at his home and did not need to stalk him to learn about his movements. Therefore, the premeditation intent is not applicable in this case”, according to court papers.

“My client was also deprived of his right to present his defence witnesses and other evidence that could have helped him in the case,” the defence argued.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the death sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court had followed the proper procedures when sentencing the defendant and that he deserved the verdict he had received. 

“It was proven to the court that the defendant monitored the victim on several occasions to find the right time to kill him and asked his family to check if the victim did die as a result of his actions, which is a clear indication that the murder was committed in a premeditated fashion,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Hammad Ghzawi, Yassin Abdullat and Saeed Mugheid.