Khaberni - The Jordanian Court of Cassation has sentenced a Palestinian doctor to death by hanging, and his lover to 20 years in prison for helping him murder a person.
According to the details reviewed by Khaberni, the defendants lured the victim, a paramedic from the West Bank, to an apartment in Amman, where the main accused drugged the victim with juice, beat him, and then stabbed him to death. To hide the crime, the accused placed Khaberni the body in a suitcase, and used a "barbecue trip" as a cover, taking the accused’s lover's sister and her children to the Ma'in area in Madaba and burnt the body with gasoline.
According to their confession, the accused cheated the victim by convincing him of his ability Khaberni to secure Hajj visas in exchange for large sums of money amounting to about 16 thousand dinars. To secure his rights, the victim obtained two promissory notes from the accused for the amounts paid.
The accused explained in his confession that he was unable to secure the visas, so he planned to kill the victim to recover the promissory notes Khaberni. The accused also confessed that he informed his lover of his intention to kill the victim, and she agreed to help him. The day before the crime, they bought a large suitcase together intended to hide the body in after committing the crime.
The accused continued his confession, saying he lured the victim from the West Bank to his apartment in Amman under the pretext of handing over Khaberni his money, and on the way, he offered him juice laced with a drug to make him lose his balance.
He pointed out that his lover, at the accused’s request, occupied the building’s guard and deliberately disabled the surveillance cameras Khaberni to ensure the victim's entry into the apartment was not recorded.
He continued by saying that inside the apartment, the accused unexpectedly struck the victim with a boxing punch to the neck, knocking him out, then stabbed him in the neck with a knife until he died.
He explained that they placed the body in the suitcase they had prepared in advance and then transported it Khaberni to the Ma'in area, where they burned the body with gasoline to hide its traces, after they covered their trip under the guise of "barbecuing" accompanied by the accused’s sister.
The Court of Cassation stated that the conviction of the accused for premeditated murder was due to proven premeditation and intent, and the court cited several facts to support this, including purchasing Khaberni the suitcase a day before, luring the victim, bringing a narcotic substance, and disabling the cameras.
It added that although the actions of the accused’s lover were significant in facilitating the crime, they did not rise to the level of direct participation in the act of stabbing, therefore, the court modified the description of her charge from premeditated murder to "complicity in murder," as she helped, facilitated, and ensured the commission of the crime.
The court noted that it rejected the defense's reasons for appeal, including the claim of an existing tribal reconciliation document and the payment of 405,000 dinars to the victim's family, considering that this procedure does not constitute a waiver of personal rights, and therefore is not a legal reason for reducing the sentence.
