A Texas man on trial for killing his two daughters in “honor killings” because they dated American boys was called “the devil” in court Thursday by the girls’ mother, who described 15 years of abuse during their marriage.
Patricia Owens, Yasser Said’s ex-wife, had not seen him since New Year’s 2008 – when he took their daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, out to dinner and insisted they go alone so they could talk.
Instead, prosecutors say, Saeed shot the girls multiple times in the taxi he was driving and left them for dead outside a hotel in suburban Irving.
Owens testified that she and the girls had just returned to their home in Louisville, Texas, from Oklahoma, where they had gone to escape Said. She testified that she knew the girls were dating — and that Saeed would be furious if he knew about it.
“I just thought he was going to punish them, take their phone and stuff like that,” she said.
But long before 2008, Owens testified that she and her daughters were abused by Said. She told the jury how she married Saeed in 1987, when she was just 15 and he was 29. She gave birth to Amina, Sarah and their brother Islam in the first three years of their marriage.
Patricia Owens called her ex-husband Yasser Said “the devil” for allegedly killing their two daughters at his trial in Dallas on Aug. 4, 2022. Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP Said allegedly killed his two daughters, Amina , 18, and Sarah, 17, in 2008 because they were dating American boys. Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP
Owens claims she left Saeed several times during the marriage and describes him as controlling.
In 1998, while living near Waco, Texas, Owens filed a report with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office accusing Said of sexually abusing the two girls. She took all three children and left him for months before returning and telling the girls to recant their story.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t come back,” Owens explained. “Yasser was offended.”
Saeed allegedly shot the two girls and left them for dead outside a hotel in Irving, Texas. Owens claims Saeed abused her and their daughters. Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP
In late 2007, Owens and her daughters fled again to Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the girls feared their father would kill them if he found out they were both engaged to their boyfriends. Owens said Saeed had previously threatened Amina with a gun.
The mother and daughters returned to Texas to finish school with the promise that Saeed would leave the family home. Even then, Amina refused to return to the house, fearing the consequences.
When prosecutors asked Owens if she knew what was going to happen when they got back, she said, “Part of me knew. Part of me didn’t.
Photos of Sarah and Amina Saeed shown at the “honor killing” trial. Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP
Earlier this week, prosecutors released a recording of a 911 call Sarah made after she was shot but still alive.
“My father shot me. I’m dying,” Sarah said in the recording.
Saeed, who was arrested in August 2020 after more than a decade in prison, has maintained his innocence and his lawyer has argued that he has been targeted by law enforcement because he is Muslim since September. 11 world.
He will serve an automatic life sentence if convicted.
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