Man who killed lover's husband sentenced to death by Dubai court

Judge hands accomplice wife 15 years in jail

A man who killed his lover’s husband was sentenced to death on Tuesday morning after being convicted of premeditated murder.

The 32-year-old, who holds a Comoros Island passport, hit the victim with a brick before running him over with a car then setting him on fire, Dubai Criminal Court heard.

He admitted the charge during a previous hearing. The victim was also a Comoros Island national and a friend of the man who killed him.

The victim's wife, 22, was handed a 15 year jail term.

“Yes, it's true, but I did it because of her - it's all because of her nagging,” the male defendant said, claiming she pushed him to kill her husband.

When she appeared in court previously, she was shaking and tense and denied the charges.

“I didn't kill my man, I didn't do anything,” she said.

The murder came to light when a security guard came across the burning remains of the victim about midnight on October 14, 2016 in the Al Qusais industrial area behind Dubai International Airport.

"I spotted a fire near an electrical transformer," the security guard told the court.

"I went to check and saw that it was a body. I called my colleague to double-check if I was mistaken. He confirmed it was a human body so we called police."

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Police identified the body and questioned the dead man’s wife.

She claimed her husband had left on a fishing trip and was not answering her phone calls.

Police said that the wife’s story was inconsistent which raised suspicions that she may be involved.

Officers found out the two had been seeing each other for almost two years and conspired to kill her husband so they could be together.

Despite her denial in court, police said the admitted the charge at the time.

In his testimony, a police major said: "He told us that the two of them planned that the wife fake a fight with her husband then [the lover] would take him for a drive to calm him down, during which time he would pick the right time to kill him."

The officer said the suspect tied up the victim, smashed a brick on his head and hit him repeatedly with the car door. He then drove back to the victim’s house and met his wife.

"He told her what he did and that her husband was still alive in the back of the car and asked her what should he do," said the major.

They agreed that the lover should kill the husband and burn him beyond recognition.

The main defendant also admitted drinking alcohol without a licence and having consensual sex.

In a case involving the death sentence, which is carried out by firing squad, there is an automatic appeal, and judges at the Court of Appeal and Court of Cassation hear the case before issuing a final verdict.