Sisters, sons: ‘Honor killer’ is generous man
Some family of man looking to avoid death penalty say he’s unusually kind, attentive
Four relatives of a man convicted in a pair of “honor killings” portrayed him Monday as generous, doting and loyal, as his lawyers began making their case to jurors that he should be sentenced to life in prison rather than death for separate 2012 slayings of his son-in-law and his daughter’s best friend.
Two weeks ago, the state district court jury convicted Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, 60, in the shooting deaths of Coty Beavers, 28, and Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30. Prosecutors said Irsan, who is Muslim, planned the slayings to restore the family honor after his daughter married a Christian.
Two of the defendant’s younger sisters traveled from his native Jordan to testify for the defense Monday and several other relatives are expected to testify later this week via videolink from abroad. Despite his lawyers’ advice to the contrary, Irsan chose to testify during the guilt phase of the trial. His lawyers have not yet determined if will take the stand again later this week as testimony comes to an end.
‘Affectionate’ man
His 53-year old sister Insaf Rawabdeh, a food testing engineer, locked eyes with her brother when defense lawyer Allen Tanner asked how his client treated her. A broad smile spread across her face. “He was the most compassionate, affectionate person, and he was the best person in the world for me,” she told jurors through an Arabic translator.
She said he was solicitous when she had complications during a pregnancy and years later offered money to get her son out of jail. “He was very affectionate to everybody and generous. Even if he has something in his mouth, he would give it away,” she said.
Under cross-examination, she admitted that she didn’t see her brother often after he left Jordan in the late 1970s.
Isaf Rawabdeh, 58, a retired school principal, told jurors through an interpreter the defendant was one of 10 children raised in a home where their father beat his wife and children with any object at hand, but usually a belt or shoe.
She patted her eyes with a tissue as she explained that when their father, an illiterate soldier and devout Muslim, beat their mother, the defendant would put himself in between his parents.
“He used to tell him, ‘Hit me. Hit me. Don’t hit my mom,’ ” she said.
He worked hard selling vegetables and his father ultimately kicked him out of the house, his sister said. But Irsan still paid for two family funerals, and when he received inheritance money after his father’s death, he gave it to his mother, she testified.
Like a candle
A prosecutor later questioned her about where he got the money to cover family needs if he didn’t have a job. She said she did not know.
Rawabdeh also told the jury that when the defendant and his first wife, Robin, came to live with her in Jordan, she observed how loving and attentive he was. Since Robin is blind, her brother helped her eat and go to the bathroom and washed her clothes, which surprised Rawabdeh, she said, because it is uncommon for a man to do that in Jordan.
Rawabdeh denied earlier testimony by Irsan’s daughter that she had been sexually assaulted by another brother, calling her “a liar.”
Two of Irsan’s sons, who testified previously, also took the stand denying earlier testimony that their father supported the 9/11 attacks or Osama bin Laden. Nile Irsan, 22, also said his father never beat his mother or sisters, as previous witnesses had testified. He treated his daughters like “queens” or “princesses,” Nile said.
Nader Irsan, 20, told the jury he thought of his father as a candle: “It gives light to others around it at the expense of burning itself down.”