‘She Was Afraid of Him,’ Man Strangled Wife Who Asked For Divorce One Day After Marriage

A Texas man has been found guilty of murdering his wife just days after she travelled from Jordan to be with him in the U.S. 

On Friday, a jury in Tarrant County found Tareq Alkayyali, 39, guilty of killing Wasam Moussa, 23, in 2019, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

During the trial, Prosecutors Allenna Bangs and Madeline Jones told the jury that Moussa “was reluctant to marry” Alkayyali in their home country of Jordan. 

She even “asked for a divorce the day after their 2018 wedding."

There was no honeymoon and right after the couple tied the knot, Moussa returned to her family home with her belongings. 

Eventually, Alkayyali left and returned to his home and job in Arlington, Texas. While back in the United States, Alkayyali had an affair with a coworker, the press release states.

Tareq Alkayyal Photo: Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office

By May of 2019, Moussa visited Texas to spend some time with her husband.

“During her short visit, the couple argued and talked about divorce,” the press release states. “Wasam told her brother that, during one of their fights, Alkayyali covered her mouth with his hand. “ 

Two days after she arrived, Alkayyali did a search on his computer for how to Moussa deported.

The following day, Moussa was dead.

“He put his hand over her face, a person that he loved, and he watched as the light went out of her eyes,” Bangs told the jury during this year’s trial. “What is a life worth?”

Jurors sentenced Alkayyali to 23 years in prison just hours after they found him guilty of murder, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram reports. 

“She went to the United States to try to give her husband a chance to make a life for her family,” Moussa’s brother, Ahmad Ali, told the Star-Telegram in a 2019 email. “She was afraid of him.”