‘I am allowed to have two wives’: Patriarch of devout Muslim family has bizarre outburst in court as he tries to avoid death penalty for ‘honor killing’ murder of son-in-law and his friend who helped convert his daughter to Christianity
Ali Irsan, 60, is charged with two separate ‘honor killings’ in Houston, TX in 2012
Irsan took the witness stand on Wednesday against his own attorney’s advice
His wife, Shmou Wabdeh, is charged with the killings and testifying against him
By GEORGE MARTIN
DAILYMAIL.COM
26 July 2018
A Jordanian man accused of the honor killings of two people has taken to the stand to defend himself in a desperate attempt to avoid the death penalty.
Ali Irsan, 60, a Jordanian immigrant, is charged with killing his daughter’s husband – Coty Beavers – and her friend Gelareh Bagherzadeh after his daughter converted to Christianity and married a Christian man.
Against the advice of his own attorneys, Irsan took the stand Wednesday declaring he had nothing to do with the deaths of Beavers and Bagherzadeh in Houston in 2012.
Irsan was grilled by prosecutors on his relationship with his wife and his devout faith as they tried to paint him as a radical Muslim who believed his daughter’s marriage had brought shame on the family.
Under questioning, Irsan admitted to returning to Jordan to marry his second wife when she was just 15 before returning to the US and fathering eight children with her.
When pushed on whether he had broken the law by marrying a second woman while still betrothed to his first wife Irfan said: ‘In my country, I am allowed to have two wives.’
Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh is also charged with murder and accused of assisting in the killing of Bagherzadeh but has testified against her husband.
Irsan admitted that once his daughter, Nesreen, ran away to live with her then-boyfriend Beavers, he drove by their residence a number of times. He also tried talking to Beavers’ twin brother as well and his mother.
However, Irsan insisted he never slashed his son-in-law’s tires or tried to sabotage his daughter’s marriage.
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