Trial begins for Texas taxicab driver accused in "honor killings" of teen daughters in 2008
Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a Texas taxicab driver accused in the 2008 "honor killings" of his two teenage daughters, CBS DFW reports.
Yaser Abdel Said was arrested after 12 years on the run in August 2020, in Justin, 36 miles northwest of Dallas. At the time, he was one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted.
Said's brother Yassein and his son Islam were arrested in Euless, Texas. Both of them were charged with harboring a known fugitive and are now serving time in federal prison.
The Egyptian-born suspect had been sought on a capital murder warrant since the New Year's Day 2008 fatal shootings of the two Lewisville High School students, Sarah Yaser Said, 17, and Amina Yaser Said, 18.
A police report at the time said a family member told investigators that the suspect threatened "bodily harm″ against Sarah for going on a date with a non-Muslim. The mother, Patricia Said, fled with her daughters in the week before their deaths because she was in "great fear for her life." Gail Gattrell, the sisters' great-aunt, has called the deaths an "honor killing," in which a woman is murdered by a relative to protect her family's honor.
The teenage sisters were found shot multiple times in a cab outside a motel in Irving, a Dallas suburb. Police found them after one of the girls called 911 from a cellphone and said she was dying.
"Help," said a crying voice on the 911 recording, later determined by police to be that of Sarah Said. "I'm dying. Oh my God. Stop it."
Police could not immediately find the teens after the 7:33 p.m. call. Much of what Sarah said in the recording was unintelligible, and the dispatcher's repeated requests for her to provide an address went unanswered.
An emergency dispatcher received another call about an hour later from an Irving motel. The sisters' bodies were in a cab, one in the front passenger seat and the other in the back. The caller said he could see blood.
"They don't look alive," said the caller, whose name was deleted from the recording.