A Jordanian man accused of the honor killings of two people has taken to the stand to defend himself in a desperate attempt to avoid the death penalty.
Ali Irsan, 60, a Jordanian immigrant, is charged with killing his daughter’s husband – Coty Beavers – and her friend Gelareh Bagherzadeh after his daughter converted to Christianity and married a Christian man.
Against the advice of his own attorneys, Irsan took the stand Wednesday declaring he had nothing to do with the deaths of Beavers and Bagherzadeh in Houston in 2012.
Irsan was grilled by prosecutors on his relationship with his wife and his devout faith as they tried to paint him as a radical Muslim who believed his daughter’s marriage had brought shame on the family.
Ali Irsan, 60, (left) is charged with two ‘honor killings’ while wife Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh (right) is also charged with murder and has testified against him
Despite his attorneys advising him not to Irsan took the witness stand on Wednesday to defend himself
Under questioning, Irsan admitted to returning to Jordan to marry his second wife when she was just 15 before returning to the US and fathering eight children with her.
When pushed on whether he had broken the law by marrying a second woman while still betrothed to his first wife Irfan said: ‘In my country, I am allowed to have two wives.’
Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh is also charged with murder and accused of assisting in the killing of Bagherzadeh but has testified against her husband.
Irsan admitted that once his daughter, Nesreen, ran away to live with her then-boyfriend Beavers, he drove by their residence a number of times. He also tried talking to Beavers’ twin brother as well and his mother.
However, Irsan insisted he never slashed his son-in-law’s tires or tried to sabotage his daughter’s marriage.
Gelareh Bagherzadeh (pictured) had been friends with the Jordanian-American’s daughter
Irsan is charged with killing his daughter’s husband – Coty Beavers (pictured) – and Bagherzadeh
Irsan and his attorneys attempted to paint his attitude toward his daughters as an overprotective father, but not one who was angry enough to kill.
‘I told them never to let your hormones control your future, you control your hormones,’ he said, explaining why he wanted his daughters to focus on school. He said he told at least one daughter that ‘her education is more important than her social life.’
He is said to have also plotted to kill his daughter in hopes of restoring his family’s honor.
The father was charged with the killings after law enforcement convicted him for trying to get government benefits by filing false claims for Social Security disability.
Irsan’s lawyers are claiming that neither shooting is connected to their client and the charges are a ploy to pin the deaths on him.
Irsan and his attorneys attempted to paint his attitude toward his daughters as an overprotective father
In this courtroom sketch, Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, second from right, responds to questioning by special prosecutor Marie Primm