(Houston Chronicle) A five-week capital murder trial came to a swift ending Thursday when a Harris County jury took less than an hour of deliberations to convict a Jordanian immigrant of killing his son-in-law and orchestrating the slaying of his daughter’s close friend in what prosecutors said were “honor killings.”
Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, 60, was found guilty of masterminding the two homicides as part of broader plot to kill five people, including his daughter, after she ran away from the family compound in rural Montgomery County, converted to Christianity and married a Christian man.
Family members of the victims said the quick verdict indicates the jury was certain that Irsan was guilty and that “honor killings” are not acceptable.
