Judge postpones pre-trial hearing for man accused in 'honor killings' of daughters, Yaser Said
DALLAS, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas Judge Chika Anyiam postponed the pre-trial hearing for Egyptian-born Yaser Said, 65, who's accused of killing his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah on New Year's Eve 2007.
After Judge Anyiam said the hearing wouldn't start on June 30, Said asked if he could read from some handwritten papers he was holding. The judge then asked if he had discussed what he was going to say with his attorney. After a brief discussion, Said didn't make any statements and was escorted out of the courtroom.
Sarah was 17 and her sister Amina was 18-years-old when they were found fatally shot on New Year's Day 2008. Police found them after one of the girls called 911 from a cell phone 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."
According to law enforcement, Said drove his daughters to a location in Irving and shot them to death inside his taxicab, abandoning their bodies inside the car. The following day, he was charged by the state with two counts of capital murder.
A police report at the time said a family member told investigators that Said threatened "bodily harm″ against Sarah for going on a date with a non-Muslim. The girls' mother fled with them 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.
Said was a fugitive from justice for 12 years before a tip from a maintenance worker led police to him.
In Dec. 2014, he was placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list, where he remained until his arrest.
Said's brother and son were also arrested in 2020 and charged with helping him evade capture.
Islam Yaser-Abdel Said, Said's 32-year-old son, and Yassein Said, Yaser's 59-year-old brother, were arrested by the FBI's Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force and charged via criminal complaint with concealing a person from arrest.
At the time of Said's arrest, the girls' mother told CBS 11, "Now the girls can rest in peace. Yaser was on the run for so long and it's hard to wrap my brain around it. I am very happy now. It was the happiest moment... he is caught and justice can be served for Amina and Sarah."
