Dubai court upholds death sentence for girlfriend's murderer

Dubai Appellate Court upheld the first-instance court’s ruling sentencing a young Arab man to death for the premeditated murder of his European girlfriend on a staircase near her apartment.

The crime was committed after she requested to end their relationship due to her involvement with another person.

According to case documents, the murder took place in July 2020, when the defendant had been lying in wait for the victim, intending to kill her to avenge himself because she no longer wished to continue their relationship. He slit her throat and eviscerated her.

A security guard testified during the interrogations that a building resident informed him of a fight on the seventh floor.

Upon arriving at the scene, he found blood near the staircase. After failing to open the stairwell door, he ascended from another floor and discovered the victim lying on the ground, drenched in blood.

He immediately notified the police and emergency services, who transported the body and began collecting evidence from the crime scene.

Surveillance cameras, forensic evidence, and the Dubai Police crime scene investigation led to the identification of the defendant who was arrested and confessed during prosecution interrogations that he had been in a romantic relationship with the victim since 2017, which began at a restaurant.

However, their relationship ended after he discovered her social media account and her interactions with others.

He added that she had asked him to end their relationship, but he refused and continued to pursue her.

The defendant stated that the victim left the country to escape his persistent harassment and threats and two years later, he discovered through her social media account that she had returned to work in Dubai.

So, he tracked her down, located her workplace, and attempted to rekindle their relationship. She agreed but requested Dhs55,000 as loan and he lent her Dhs30,000.

The defendant mentioned that after lending her the money, he discovered her relationship with another person, leading to a heated argument.

She again requested to end their relationship after repaying the borrowed amount. However, he sought to locate her residence to seek revenge and obtained a key to her apartment, entered it, and confronted the victim, who attempted to flee but was unable to escape.

He demanded she resume their relationship and end her relationship with the other person, then left. Several days later, he allegedly returned and attempted to threaten her, prompting her to report him to the police.

He pledged at the police station not to harm her again.

On the day of the incident, the defendant tried to call the victim, but she did not answer. He went to her residence and found her in front of her apartment.

When she refused to let him enter with her, he dragged her to the building’s staircase and killed her.

He then descended to the sixth floor via the stairs, took the elevator to his car, but returned to the scene, where she was lying in a pool of blood, he then kissed her forehead, and attempted to flee.

However, he slipped on the blood and was spotted by a security guard and another woman, who alerted the police.

He managed to reach his car and drove to a friend’s house, where he changed his clothes and headed to another emirate but he was arrested while resting near a shopping centre along the way.

The court stated that the defendant committed premeditated murder with intent and lying in wait.

He had formed the intention, resolved to kill her, and prepared the necessary tools, a knife, rope, hammer, plastic ties, a stick, and adhesive tape. He then monitored her movements, observed her residence and return time, and hid behind the emergency stairwell door.

As soon as she arrived, he ambushed and cornered her, forcibly dragging her behind the stairwell door. He then slit her throat with the knife and, after confirming her death, fled the scene.