Two sentenced to death in murder of security guard
Jordon November 29 2018
The court declared the two defendants guilty of bludgeoning and killing the 51-year-old guard and robbing a shop in the Rajeeb area behind the Jordan Customs Department headquarters on April 3.
The court handed a third man, who was standing trial on the same charges, a two-year prison term after declaring him guilty of being an accessory to the robbery.
“The two defendants told the tribunal that they were innocent and did not commit the murder,” a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.
A fourth suspect, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was tried by a juvenile court.
Court papers said the four suspects were in the process of stealing from a shop and “were surprised by the victim who attempted to stop them and they killed him”.
“The suspects killed the guard using blunt objects, strangled him to death with a piece of cloth and fled after robbing the shop,” the court added.
The tribunal relied on the defendants’ confessions to the police and the Criminal Court prosecutor, their confessions against each other and evidence collected from the scene which linked them to the murder and robbery, a second senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.
The tribunal comprised of judges Mohammad Blosuh, Ali Obeidat and Hassan Majali.
Criminal Court Prosecutor Issam Haddid asked the court to hand the defendants the maximum punishment.
According to the second senior judicial source, the Criminal Court prosecutor’s office plans to appeal the two-year sentence given to the third defendant at a higher court and ask for a harsher punishment.
“All the defendants had plotted to commit the robbery and agreed upon themselves to eliminate anyone who stood in their way, which means that the third defendant deserves a higher punishment,” the source said.
Tuesday’s verdicts will automatically be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.
