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Father Who Allegedly Killed Two Teen Daughters In ‘Honor Killing’ Arrested After Evading Capture For 12 Years
Yaser Abdel Said is accused of driving his daughters to Irving, Texas on New Year’s Day in 2008 and shooting them to death.
A Dallas-area taxi cab driver, who eluded capture for more than a decade after allegedly killing his two teenage daughters, was arrested by FBI agents in Texas this week.
Yaser Abdel Said was taken into custody in Justin, Texas on Wednesday after 12 years on the run, officials announced in a press release. He was arrested without incident.
Said, who was placed on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List in 2014, is accused of murdering his daughters, Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17.
On Jan. 1, 2008, Said allegedly took his two children for a ride in his taxi cab “under the guise of taking them to get something to eat,” according to the FBI. Instead, he drove them to Irving, Texas where he allegedly shot them both multiple times. A capital murder warrant was issued for Said’s arrest the following day.
A police report at the time said a family member told investigators that the suspect threatened “bodily harm″ against Sarah for going on a date with a non-Muslim. The mother, Patricia Said, fled with her daughters 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.
The teenage sisters were found shot multiple times in a cab outside a motel in Irving, a Dallas suburb. Police found them after one of the girls called 911 from a cellphone 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.”
Police could not immediately find the teens after the 7:33 p.m. call. Much of what Sarah said in the recording was unintelligible, and the dispatcher’s repeated requests for her to provide an address went unanswered.
An emergency dispatcher received another call about an hour later from an Irving motel. The sisters’ bodies were in a cab, one in the front passenger seat and the other in the back. The caller said he could see blood.
“They don’t look alive,” said the caller, whose name was deleted from the recording.
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno described the murder of Said’s daughters as “heinous.”
“[Said's] capture and arrest bring us one step closer to justice for Amina and Sarah,” DeSarno said. “We want to thank our partners at the Irving Police Department for working with us to apprehend this dangerous individual.”
A reward of up to $100,000 had previously been offered for information that led to his capture.
“Even after 12 years of frustration and dead ends, the pursuit for their killer never ceased,” Irving Police Chief Jeff Spivey also said. “Today’s arrest of their father, Yaser Said brings us closer to ensuring justice is served on their behalf.”
It’s unclear if Said, who's an Egyptian national, has retained legal counsel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
