A 12-year manhunt for a Muslim man wanted in connection with the allegedly religiously motivated murders of his two daughters ended Wednesday with the arrest of Yaser Abdel Said, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Said was taken into custody without incident in Justin, Texas, according to an FBI release posted on the FBI’s website. Said had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives since December 4, 2014. Said will soon be transferred to Dallas County for proceedings related to the 2008 deaths of his daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17.
Police investigators classified the shootings as “honor killings,” WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.
The #FBI joins our state and local law enforcement partners in announcing the capture of Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Yaser Abdel Said, a capital murder suspect wanted in connection with the homicide of his two teenage daughters. @FBIDallas https://t.co/Dtx26p8ZNt pic.twitter.com/AsGPoJQjCB
— FBI (@FBI) August 27, 2020
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Irving, Texas, police Detective Eric Curtis told WFAA-TV in Dallas that the girls were dating non-Muslims against the father’s wishes.
“I think that frustrated him and he could not handle that,” Curtis said. “And ultimately that’s why he decided to kill them.”
Twelve years later, authorities have him in custody.
“The FBI-led Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force has worked tirelessly to find Yaser Abdel Said. These experienced investigators never gave up on their quest to find him and pledged to never forget the young victims in this case,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said in the news release.
Is this finally justice for the victims?
“His capture and arrest bring us one step closer to justice for Amina and Sarah.”
Irving Police Chief Jeff Spivey told WFAA that, despite the passage of time, investigators were determined to make an arrest in the case.
“This man brutally murdered, shot to death his two daughters in his taxi cab,” Spivey told the station. “We have tirelessly followed every lead, never losing hope that we would one day locate and arrest Yaser Said.”
The FBI release said Said is accused of taking his daughters for a ride in his taxicab on Jan. 1, 2008. They were later found dead of multiple gunshots in the cab in Irving. A warrant for Said’s arrest was issued the next day.
According to WFAA, the FBI arrested Said’s son, Islam Said, and his brother, Yasim Said, of Euless, Texas, on charges of harboring a fugitive.
“We do expect that there were others who provided aid and comfort to this fugitive for a long period of time,” DeSarno said, according to WFAA.
In a Twitter post, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born women’s rights advocate who now lives in the United States as an American citizen, celebrated the “honor killings” arrest.
For years we at the AHA Foundation felt that the lives of girls and women like Amina and Sarah did not matter. These two beautiful girls were murdered by their father. Tonight we can celebrate that he is captured. https://t.co/up66uKC7fg
— Ayaan Hirsi Ali (@Ayaan) August 27, 2020
Police said Amina was shot twice. Sarah was shot nine times.
According to WFAA, Sarah called 911 after being shot and told dispatchers, “My dad shot me. I’m dying. Stop it. Stop it.”
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