JEDDAH, 31 May 2007 — Authorities arrested eight suspects in the May 11 murder of the owner of a real-estate office in Mushrefa district here, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday.
Two Sri Lankan women, one of them a part-time maid for the murder victim, allegedly residing in Saudi Arabia illegally were among those arrested for the killing of Omar Yaslam, who was found dead in his home tied up with electrical wires.
According to investigators, the suspects were part of a ring that had planned to break into Yaslam’s home and crack open his safe, believing it to be filled with valuables. Police say that the gatekeeper to the residence originally failed to mention that a Sri Lankan maid worked for Yaslam part time. When police interviewed the gatekeeper again, he mentioned the maid that led to the arrests.
Police have reconstructed the methods and motive for the crime. They say that the maid noticed a safe in the house and recruited cohorts, including an Indian who used to drop her off at the house, to break into the house and steal the valuables inside the safe.
According to Jeddah police spokesman Col. Misfer Al-Juaid, the maid told the Indian driver that the safe contained a large amount of cash and the Indian driver recruited others to help in the theft.
The original plan, police said, was to break into the home while Yaslam was at the mosque for dawn prayer on the morning of May 11. The plan went awry when Yaslam returned sooner than expected. Police say one or more of the suspects assaulted Yaslam with a blunt instrument, and then tied him up. He bled to death after the thieves left the house with the contents of the safe.
Police say the maid and the driver confessed to the crime and pointed out the accomplices to the crime. Authorities also say they have fingerprint evidence that connects all the suspects to the crime scene.
The burglars-turned-murderers must have been disappointed when, after all their effort they only found SR1,000 in the victim’s safe.
