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Amina and Sarah Said were fatally shot by their father, Yaser Said, on New Year's Day, 2008. They were then left for dead in their father's taxi outside an Irving hotel. Said reportedly murdered his daughters in an "honor killing" because of their questionable dating lives — they were dating American men.
Their father, Yaser Said, remained a fugitive for nearly 12 years and even made it to the FBI's most wanted list until he was finally arrested in 2020. He was on the run from law enforcement with the help of his son and brother. The three were later convicted. Yaser's 2022 trial revealed numerous secrets, some of which concerned the deep-rooted abuse in their family.
This article will discuss a few chilling details about the 2008 purported honor killings of sisters Amina and Sarah Said.
Five shocking details about the 2008 dual murders of Amina and Sarah Said
1) One of sisters called 911 and stated that they had been shot
On the night of the murders of Amina and Sarah Said, cops reportedly received a call from one of the sisters. Amina called 911 despite being shot nine times, as was reported after the murders. The call recording was played in court during their father's capital murder trial in 2022.
In the call, Amina was heard saying,
"Help, my dad shot me! I'm dying, I'm dying!"
2) Amina and Sarah Said's brother and uncle helped their killer father escape
After searching for Yaser Said for nearly 12 years, authorities finally located him in 2017 due to a tip from a maintenance worker. He was eventually apprehended in August 2020. According to reports, he was residing in a house that his 32-year-old son Islam Yaser Abdel Said had rented. Said escaped with the aid of his 59-year-old brother, Yassein Said, and was later discovered in Justin, Texas.
Yassein Said was found guilty of being a part of Yaser's crimes and in June 2021, he was given a twelve-year prison sentence. When Islam Yaser Abdel Said entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2021, identical charges were levied against him.
3) Yaser Said was an abusive father to Amina and Sarah Said
The girls' mother and Said's former wife, Patricia Owens, testified in court, claiming that Yaser had been an abusive father and husband since the beginning. She also asserted that he was controlling. According to sources, in 1998, Owens even filed a complaint with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, in which she accused Said of s*xually assaulting their daughters.
4) Said claimed that he was being followed on the night of the murders
Yaser Said, on the other hand, testified in court, claiming that he deeply loved both his daughters and that he was only on the run from law enforcement as he believed it wasn't a fair trial. Additionally, Said asserted that he only wished to take his daughters out to dinner on the night they were brutally murdered. But on their way to the restaurant, he noticed someone following them.
Said stated that he left the girls behind at the Irving Transit Center after getting out of his taxi because he believed the person pursuing them intended to hurt him. He said,
"I told them the car is yours. You do whatever you want since you know how to drive. I left the car for them."
Later, Said claimed that he learned about the accident and murder of his daughters. Although he expressed guilt for leaving them unprotected, he said he had nothing to do with their killings.
5) Amina and Sarah were killed for bringing shame to their family
People have referred to Amina and Sarah Said's deaths as "honor killings" because they think Yaser Said was outraged that his daughters were dating people who did not practise Islam. Said was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2014.
According to reports, the incident was referred to in the FBI's internet bulletin as an "honor killing," a story that gained traction shortly after the deaths and rekindled upon Said's arrest. It was supported by a 2014 documentary called The Price of Honor, which fed rumors that Said murdered his daughters because he had outdated ideas that they should be sentenced to death for bringing dishonor to the family.
The honor killings of Amina and Sarah Said will be the subject of ID's Devil in Suburbia's episode airing this Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at 9 pm ET.
