S03E07: The "Honor Killings" of Amina and Sarah Said
Episode description
Yaser Abdel Said, who was born in Egypt, ruled his family with an iron fist due to his extreme religious and cultural beliefs. His family, who lived in Texas, consisted of his wife, Patricia Owens, 17-year-old daughter Sarah Said, 18-year-old daughter Amina Said, and 19-year-old son, Islam Said. One of Yaser's most strict rules consisted of his daughters not being allowed to date or even talk to boys. He was to pick their husbands from Egypt and they would go there to marry them, but the girls held secret relationships while in school. Yaser found out about Amina's secret relationship with her boyfriend, Joseph Moreno through methods of surveillance he had placed on his daughters and threatened to kill her.
Sadly, he made good on his promise on January 1, 2008 when he took his daughters out in his taxi and fatally shot both of them, leaving their bodies in his taxi while he fled. Yaser evaded capture for 12 years before being arrested on August 26, 2020. He had been on the FBI's Most Wanted list for 6 years.
Sources
Audio:
Patricia Owens' Statement: Court TV (2023)- Victims' Mom: "You are the devil." | Texas Honor Killing Trial
9-1-1 Call: Associated Press (2014)- Texas Teen 911 Call: 'I'm Dying.'
Documentary: Devil in Suburbia- Under His Eye (2022)
United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas (2020)
Documentary: The Price of Honor (2014)