Dad on trial after allegedly killing two teenage daughters for being ‘too American’

The girls were shot dead on New Year's Day, 2008

A man who allegedly killed his teenage daughters for becoming "too American" has gone on trial this week for the crimes he is accused of committing nearly a decade and a half ago. The case against Yaser Abdel Said, a taxi driver born in Egypt, began Tuesday with a jury being selected to hear the 14-year-old case in Dallas, Texas. Said vanished after the deaths and spent six years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, before being captured in the city of Euless, alongside son Yassein, just 30 miles from the scene of his alleged crime. [caption id="attachment_351837" align="alignnone" width="634"] Credit: Facebook - (L-R) Yasser, Yassein, Sarah and Amina[/caption] Said, aged 51 at the time, is thought to have shot and killed his 17 and 18-year-old daughters, Sarah and Amina, after telling them they were going for food on New Year's Day, 2008. The girls were reportedly shot multiple times by their father in his own cab. A documentary entitled, The Price of Honor, which looks into the story of the so-called "honour killings" - a practice where someone is killed after bringing shame on their family - explored speculation that Said killed his daughters after objecting to their lifestyle which was "too American". The girls bodies were later discovered inside the car which was left parked outside of a local hotel in Irving, Texas. Before she died, Sarah was able to call 911 and told the operator, "Help, my dad shot me! I'm dying, I'm dying!" *Trigger warning: distressing audio* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdTZaD2B2sk The pair had returned to Said's home along with their mother just a day before, having attempted to leave what they said was a life of abuse under Said's controlling eye. According to a report by Dallas Morning News (DMN), the girls claimed that their father had sexually and physically abused them for several years, having previously pulled a gun on Amina and threatening to kill her after learning she had a boyfriend. Yassein Said, along with Yaser's nephew Islam, both plead guilty to conspiracy and concealing a person's arrest in 2021. They were jailed for 12 and 1o years, respectively. Said, now 65, is expected to receive an automatic sentence of life in prison.

The girls' mother and Said's ex-wife, Patricia Owens, told the DMN: "My daughters were loving, caring, smart, loved everybody, would help anybody.

"They were two of the most awesome kids in the world, and they did not deserve what happened to them... All I can say is there’s going to be justice."

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