Prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty, meaning Yaser Said receives an automatic life sentence. We took him into custody without incident., Reports at 4, 5 @NBCDFW Day 4 of Yaser Said cap murder trial.This Bedford apt maintenance worker is who IDd Said in 2017. Caught in 2020. https://t.co/R77vHTz043 pic.twitter.com/ApAbeA3VgF. Gimenez detailed the local and global search for Said who was on the FBIs Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive list before his 2020 arrest at a home in Justin. Amina was around eight years old at the time, while Sarah was seven years old. I am very happy now. According to law enforcement, he shot the girls to. The abuse was permitted (or at least not stopped) by their American mother, Patricia. Owens came face-to-face with her ex-husband for the first time since prosecutors say he killed their two teenaged daughters. Defendant Yaser Abdel Said took the stand as the only defense witness Monday in his trial for the purported "honor killing" of his daughters. "Her look was in fear, she didn't look like she wanted to be there," said Amina's boyfriend Edgar Ruiz. I left the car for them," he said. The defense rested after the defendant's testimony. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The potential key piece of evidence was admitted on day two of testimony, despite objections by the defense who previously cautioned jurors their expert will later testify that the 17-year-old victim may have been hallucinating after being shot nine times when she named her father as her shooter. Sarah's boyfriend testified about why she kept their relationship a secret. Also, Det. Owens claimed that she knew the girls had boyfriends and knew Said would be angry if he found out, adding that Said eventually found out about the girl's boyfriends and threatened one of the girls with a gun. [ATTORNEY: "Ms. Owens this is a tough question. Patricia Owens, the mother of 18-year-old Amina Said and 17-year-old Sarah Said, takes the stand on the third day of trial of her ex-husband Yaser Said at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in . Sarah's boyfriend testified about why she kept their relationship a secret. In moments of extreme trauma, like being shot multiple times, people can have hallucinations, Patton said. Patrica Owens, Yaser Said's ex-wife, testified before the jury Thursday morning and said why she fled her home with her daughters only to return days before they were killed. Yaser Said, who had been sought on a capital murder warrant since the slayings, was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list. The judge warned Said that prosecutors would be allowed to raise any issue from the trial with him but he said he wanted to talk anyway. Speaking through an interpreter in his native Arabic, Said testified someone else is responsible for the crime, but investigators never found that person because they only pursued him. She said they didnt want to live by the culture of their father, who was born in Egypt, nor did they want arranged marriages, as he planned. @NBCDFWhttps://t.co/R77vHTz043 pic.twitter.com/5eP4TqCGdS. Both are at home recovering. She said she and her two daughters returned to her husband because he was abusive and she was scared of getting hurt if they didn't. Said disappeared and had not been seen for 12 years until his arrest in Justin by the FBI in August 2020. It took just 20 minutes in court for Yaser Said testifying in his own defense to tell his story claiming he was not with his daughters when they were murdered. Said's defense argued Owens' story had changed so much over the years that she was close to becoming a suspect herself and also claimed police were fixated on blaming a Muslim man for the killings instead of looking at other potential suspects. A film made about the murders, "The Price of Honor," alleged the girls were killed by their father as an "honor killing," a cultural practice where someone is killed after bringing shame on their family. They then moved to another area, closer to Ms Owens sister. This is murder. The defense questioned why law enforcement didn't consider anyone else to be a suspect. Prosecutors have said that he was obsessed with possession and control. Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP. But, Patricia maintained that if she saw her ex-husband again, shed first call the authorities and then ask him why and how someone could murder his daughters. Cross examination is done with Patricia Owens (mom of Sarah and Amina) - who testified that when girls returned home days before their murders Yaser Said appeared happy; when Amina came back last . Chief Dallas County Public Defender Brad Lollar said the conviction will be appealed. The mother must be charged with conspiracy to murder her daughters. She was soft-spoken on the witness stand, but her message about how she felt about her ex-husband was loud and clear . "Because I believed behind this coverage there was a secret agenda. I'm dying, I'm dying!". Prosecutors said Said was angry the girls were dating out of their culture and that they had recently ran away to be with their boyfriends. The film furthers speculation the girls' father objected to his daughters living an "American lifestyle.". That taxi was in line with cabs waiting for fares outside what was at the time the Omni Mandalay. While she dropped the Garland charges, Owens said that in October 1998 she applied for a protective order against Said on behalf of her girls. He wanted me to go back to him and if I didnt go back to him, he threatened to kill me and my family, Owens said, adding that Said stated he wanted to kill her after she filed the charges. As Owens testified, Said sat emotionlessly across the room. "One of the people in the passenger seat looked like shes hunched over," he recalled. The father told the courtroom that he only wanted to take his two daughters to dinner on New Year's Day 2008 but on the road in his taxi, he said he saw someone following them. Amina informed her friends the wounds were inflicted by her father, and her mother refused to allow her to seek medical attention. There's no such thing as an honor killing, you kill somebody there's no honor to it. And he controlled everything in his household, prosecutor says, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile, Mother of murdered girls calls ex-husband the devil in honor killings trial. A short time later, the sisters were found shot to death in the cab in Irving. Patricia Owens confirms a photo of herself at age 14, a year before she married her former husband, Yaser Said, when he was 29. Owens said on the day her daughter returned Yaser appeared happy and he kissed her on the forehead and shed a tear. Part of me didnt" before saying, "I'm sorry.". NBC 5s Maria Guerrero reports. Yaser Said had been a fugitive from justice since New Year's Day 2008, when he allegedly murdered his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah. Im dying, yelled a frantic woman identified as Sarah. Yaser Said was convicted of capital murder Tuesday in the 2008 fatal shootings of his two teenage daughters, 18-year-old Amina Said and 17-year-old Sarah Said. But, Black said, in another act of "control" and "manipulation" by Said, he told them he had changed and convinced them to return home. "I do not have first-hand knowledge of what an honor killing is. The defense is also expected to try to discredit Sarah's chilling 911 call, played before the jury on Wednesday, where she said her father shot her. For 12 years, Said evaded arrest for the January 1, 2008, fatal shootings of his two daughters, Amina (18) and Sarah (17). A member of the defence team claimed during opening arguments that Mr Said had been targeted for being Muslim, adding that all the 911 calls reveal is that Sarah was in extreme trauma. On Friday, graphic crime scene evidence was shown to the jury, including bullet-riddled clothing worn by the girls on the night of the murders. Dr. Brasheer Ahmed, with the Muslim Community Center in North Richland Hills, told NBC 5 in 2020, following Said's arrest, that murder was against Islamic principal. A boyfriend was not permissible under his rules. Patrica Owens, Yaser Said's ex-wife, testified before the jury Thursday morning and said why she fled her home with her daughters only to return days before they were killed. Said, 64, has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder charge for the crime that his lawyers have insisted was only pinned on him because he is Muslim. On New Years Eve, the day before the murders, they returned to Texas. She was soft-spoken on the witness stand, but her message about how she felt about her ex-husband was loud and clear when referring to him as the "devil.". Each girl, they said, had been shot multiple times. Shes asking for help and she names her killer, her father, Yaser Said, Ms Black said. Clearly the proof is in the pudding and this is a double Honor Killing and the F.B.I. Around the time, Sarah Said called 911 twice, stressing she was dying after her father shot her. Patricia Owens, the mother of 18-year-old Amina Said and 17-year-old Sarah. Upon the SWAT teams notice and knock announced, the defendant came out and surrendered, said Gimenez. In her opening statement on Tuesday, prosecutor Lauren Black said that he controlled what they did, who they talked to, who they could be friends with, if they and who they could date. Yaser Abdel Said, 65,evaded arrest for over 12 yearsfollowing the slayings of his daughters, 18-year-old Amina Said and 17-year-old Sarah Said. John Schingle testified the GPS in the taxi cab had been turned off the night before the murders. Said took the teens in the taxi cab to eat and talk, and refused to let her come along. And I feel the media was against me in a certain direction, that I would not get a fair trial," Said said. If convicted, Yaser Said faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. Part of me didnt" before saying, "I'm sorry.". More than 50 people were called to testify, including the girls' mother as well as local and federal investigators and experts on Muslim culture. Im dying! @NBCDFW https://t.co/X5svQKi9it pic.twitter.com/ZmIM6Lof1n, Prosecutors asked Owens if she had any idea what might have happened to her daughters when they left to eat with their father and she said, Part of me did. Amina gives in and goes home with her mother and within a couple hours Amina and Sarah were shot to death by their father. Mr Said told Ms Owens to stay home while he went for a drive with the teens to talk. "Initially, we were looking at the boyfriends originally, and then we focused on the defendant,"Retired detective RandallJohnson said. The cause of death for both victims was listed as multiple gunshot wounds and homicide as the manner of death. It's a murder," Irving Police Detective Joe Henning said. Yaser Said Honor Killing Trial Over Murder of Sarah and Amina Underway in Dallas HOMEPAGE Crime & Justice Chilling 911 Call Fingers Dad in Horrific Texas 'Honor Killing' Trial SMOKING GUN After. Yaser had plans for the girls to marry in an arranged marriage. Prosecutors presented an email Amina reportedly sent her Lewisville teacher days before her death, confiding that her father was arranging her marriage so she and her sister were going to run away. That evening Patricia drove to Amina boyfriends parents to talk to her daughter. The girls' bodies were found in their father's taxi cab outside the Omni hotel in Irving, both of them had been shot multiple times. "Yes," Owens responded. Silence filled Dallas County District Court 7 Wednesday as prosecutors prepared to present the chilling 911 call made by a dying Sarah Said on New Year 2008. "I dont know. If convicted, Said will face life in prison. Yaser was abusive.. The defense rested after the defendant's testimony. Yaser was on the run for so long, and its hard to wrap my brain around it. An emotional Ms Owens said that Sarah and Amina told her back in 1998 that their father had sexually assaulted them. Said disappeared simultaneously with the girls' murders and eluded police and the FBI for 12 years before he was finally captured. They arrived back in Texas on New Years eve when the girls learned that their mother was going back home to Yaser. The sisters had become "very scared for their lives," and the decision to leave was made after Said "put a gun to Amina's head and threatened to kill her," the prosecutor said. After the verdict, Patricia Owens, Said's ex-wife and mother of the victims spoke directly to him in a victim impact statement. After ending up on the FBIs Most Wanted List, he was located in 2020 in Justin, Texas only 40 minutes from where the alleged murder took place. Ms Owens said he left messages claiming to have changed and that he would vacate the house they wanted him to. They both were victims of their abusive father, Yaser, on several occasions. The capital murder trial of Yaser Abdel Said, a 65-year-old cab driver from Lewisville accused of murdering his two teenage daughters in a purported "honor killing" continued Thursday in Dallas with the girls' mother taking the stand. "She didn't want to go back home, she would rather be dead than ever go back there," Moggio testified. About a week before the sisters were killed, they and their mother fled their home in Lewisville to Oklahoma to get away from their dad, who worked as a taxi driver, Black said. "I told them the car is yours. Patricia Owens, YaserSaids former wife, had not seen him since New Years Day of 2008 when he took their daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, to dinner and insisted on going alone so they could talk. Instead, prosecutors say, Said shot the girls multiple times in the cab he drove and left them for dead outside a hotel in suburban Irving. About a week before the sisters were killed, they and their mother fled their home in Lewisville to Oklahoma to get away from their dad, who worked as a taxi driver, Black said. The honour killing allegedly occurred outside Dallas after he found out that they had begun dating and that he wasnt able to control them. A film made about the murders, "The Price of Honor," alleges the girls were killed by their father as an "honor killing," a cultural practice where someone is killed after bringing shame on their family. Joe Hennig, referring to his original report, testified the girls mother and brother told him Said carried a gun in his cab. After the 2008 killing, Patricia Owens, Yaser Said's former wife, told FBI agents that Yassein Said made statements to her indicating he had little remorse for the victims, but indicated. Defense team member Baharan Muse pressed whether anyone said that Said was at the hotel that night. "He will kill us," Amina wrote. The mother of two girls who were allegedly killed by their father has told his murder trial that he molested the teenagers. Patricia Owens and 18 . Prosecutors claim Said murdered the girls inside his cab in Irving because was upset that his children were dating. On cross examination, the defense tried to paint their outing in a positive light. She said she and her two daughters returned to her husband because he was abusive and she was scared of getting hurt if they didn't. "I did. Awful testimony in Yaser Said trial: Medical examiners explained autopsy pics; girls clothes. In a Dallas County courtroom, Patricia Owens saw her former husband and the father of their children for the first time in 14 years. When asked to identify her ex-husband in court, Owens raised her arm, pointed at Said and said, That devil there. She told jurors she and her husband had not spoken since the night their daughters were killed. Hopefully, with Yaser facing the consequences of his actions, Patricia will be able to start moving on with her life. A detective and construction worker were among the witnesses called in the trial of Yaser Said this Friday afternoon. Amina called and her mother asked her to come home, again Amina refused. The girls' two boyfriends went with them to Tulsa, where they got an apartment. Yaser Said sat emotionless, holding a finger to his ear to listen to the disturbing audio. "The doorman told me there were a couple of people in a cab that were hurt really bad and that I needed to come out to the front drive," he said. When prosecutors asked Owens if she knew what would happen when they returned, she replied, Part of me did. Prosecutors claim Said's daughters made an outcry that he'd sexually abused them and had touched them inappropriately. . Her chilling 911 call was played before the jury on Wednesday where she was heard saying her father shot her and that she was dying. Shes spoken about why Yaser might have wanted to kill his daughters. Amina's boyfriend testified he and his father indeed saw Said and both girls in his cab shortly before the shooting and that they briefly followed them out of concern. The Crime Junkie podcast unravels all details of the case, but nobody quite knows what was Patricias initial stance about the alleged physical and sexual abuse meted out to Amina and Sarah. If convicted of capital murder, he would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After learning about the allegations, Owens said that she went with the daughters to the Hill County Sheriffs Department to make a report before moving to another town to be near her sister. Said's defense argued Owens' story had changed so much over the years that she was close to becoming a suspect herself and also claimed police were fixated on blaming a Muslim man for the killings instead of looking at other potential suspects. I didnt ask my employees if they had seen him other than if theyd seen the driver from the cab," Watson said. But long before 2008, Owens testified, she and her daughters were abused by Said. I'm dying, I'm dying!". Breaking down several times on the stand, Owens testified that her daughters, Sarah and Amina, told her in 1998 that Said had touched them. Said will be automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sarah suffered nine gunshot wounds, mostly to her abdomen, according to the medical examiner. Where is Patricia Said Today? Each girl, they said, had been shot multiple times. The evening the sisters were shot, their father wanted to take just the two of them to a restaurant, she said. Texas father Yaser Said stands accused of shooting and killing his daughters in his taxi, in what has been reported as an honour killing. If convicted of capital murder, Said would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. We took him into custody without incident., Reports at 4, 5 @NBCDFW Day 4 of Yaser Said cap murder trial.This Bedford apt maintenance worker is who IDd Said in 2017. The daughters went back to the area around Dallas on New Years Eve, following numerous calls from Mr Said and his brother telling them to come back. Im dying, yelled a frantic woman identified as Sarah. Patricia Said now lives under her maiden name Patricia Owens. A defense attorney for Said, however, insisted in opening arguments that his client was targeted because of his faithand that the calls to police only indicate that Sarah was in an extreme moment of trauma. Im dying! Patricia Owens Said divorced her husband after the murders and dropped his last name, according to the Morning News. The father told the courtroom that he only wanted to take his two daughters to dinner on New Year's Day 2008 but on the road in his taxi, he said he saw someone following them. "It is wrong for the government to generalize an entire culture, criminalize an entire culture, to fit their narrative, and to fit their objective. The sisters boyfriends also joined them. @NBCDFW https://t.co/X5svQKi9it pic.twitter.com/ZmIM6Lof1n, Prosecutors asked Owens if she had any idea what might have happened to her daughters when they left to eat with their father and she said, Part of me did. Owens, who. Even then, Amina refused to go back to the house, fearful of the repercussions. This is just killing. "She didn't want to go back home, she would rather be dead than ever go back there," Moggio testified. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. In late 2007, Owens and her daughters fled again to Tulsa, Okla., after the girls feared their father would kill them if he learned they had both become engaged to their boyfriends. During opening statements Tuesday morning, prosecutor Lauren Black said Said was "obsessed with possession and control.". Police allege these were honor killings committed by an abusive, controlling and possessive father who was angry his daughters dated outside their culture and had left home recently. Earlier this week, prosecutors played a recording of a 911 call placed by Sarah after she had been shot, but was still alive. Now prosecutors are picking at every issue in his story. At the time, Amina would have been around 8 years old and Sarah would have been 7. Her chilling 911 call was played before the jury on Wednesday where she was heard saying her father shot her and that she was dying. The prosecutor said the sisters had become very scared for their lives, and decided to leave after their father put a gun to Aminas head and threatened to kill her.. On Friday, that phrase took center stage. Silence filled Dallas County District Court 7 Wednesday as prosecutors prepared to present the chilling 911 call made by a dying Sarah Said on New Year 2008. I could see a young lady who had her eyes fixed open and there was stuff coming out of her nose, said Watson. Change.org Uh oh. Defense lawyers unsuccessfully tried to limit the scope of cross-examination. She said that she didnt finish the process to get the order because they went back to Mr Said. Amina suffered two gunshot wounds, including a fatal wound to the chest. He said he assumed that he was the target and so he claimed he got out of the car at an Irving Transit Center where he assumed the girls would be safe. Defense lawyers unsuccessfully tried to limit the scope of cross-examination. Saids abusive tendencies were evident early on when he sliced her leg open with a knife for refusing to have sex with him. Both Sarah and Amina appeared at school with bruises, and at one point Amina even had a split lip. It is wrong for the government to generalize an entire culture, criminalize an entire culture, to fit their narrative, and to fit their objective, Patton said on Tuesday. The girls managed to run away of the home to their mothers job where the girls also had part time jobs. On Christmas Day, after Mr Said went to work, Ms Owens testified that they fled to Oklahoma with their clothes in trash bags. Yaser Said showed no emotion as cries for help played in court. [ATTORNEY: "Did you comprehend what could happen to her?"] . A year after they married, she gave birth to their son, Islam. Thanks for contacting us. I was scared not to go back, she told jurors. Said spent six years on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List before he was arrested in Justin in August 2020. Yaser Said is accused of shooting to death his two daughters on Jan. 1, 2008 . He told jurors he was not with the girls when they died and someone else is to blame. Jurors also saw the orange taxi cab where she and her 18-year-old sister, Amina, were found shot to death. Black said Sarah Said was shot nine times and Amina Said was shot twice. Shot at close range; muzzle touched Sarahs clothes.I see 6 holesME looking at Sarahs top (she was shot 9x) Amina shot 2x lost a lot of blood. In a letter written to the judge overseeing the case, Said said he was not happy with his kids' "dating activity" but denied killing his daughters.