Emirati woman sentenced to death for killing U.S. teacher
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced to death a woman convicted of stabbing an American teacher to death in an Abu Dhabi mall restroom.
The country's state news agency WAM said the Federal Supreme Court issued the sentence Monday against the defendant, who authorities have previously identified as Alaa Bader Abdullah.
She was being tried for the killing of schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, who was attacked by someone shrouded in a full black veil in a shopping center on the capital's upscale Reem Island in December.
Police say the attacker later planted a bomb outside another American's house that was discovered before it detonated.
Abdullah had faced multiple charges including the deliberate killing of Ryan, attempted murder over the bomb plot and committing crimes "with terrorist intent."
An online fundraising campaign to set up an educational trust for Ryan's children has raised more than $34,000.
Footprints Recruiting Managing Director Ben Glickman told The Associated Press that Ryan started teaching in the country last August or September and hoped to continue working there.
"She was really a kind and enthusiastic person, and she was really enjoying her time over there," Glickman said.
Ryan taught in Colorado before moving to the Emirates, according to Glickman. She worked at Palmer Elementary School in Denver from 1997 to 2003, Denver Public Schools spokesman Doug Schepman said Thursday. Colorado records show Ryan had a license to teach in Colorado that was issued in December 2012 and that she was trained to work with special education students with moderate needs