Fort Worth (1080 KRLD) - The brother of capital murder suspect Yaser Said has been sentenced to 12-years in prison for harboring a fugitive.
Yassein Said, 59, was convicted by a jury in Fort Worth federal court in February. Yassein and his brother’s son Islam helped move Yaser from house to house to escape murder investigators who suspected Yaser in the Jan. 1, 2008 killings of his two daughters. The bodies of Amina and Sarah were found in his abandoned taxi cab in Las Colinas on the property of the Omni Mandalay Hotel.
Irving Police have said Yaser Said was angered at the girls because he felt they dishonored the family.
All three Saids were captured by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force Aug. 25, 2020.
There was a near miss several years earlier
“Conspiring with his nephew, Yaser’s son Islam, Yassein Said helped harbor Yaser inside an apartment in Bedford, Texas, where a maintenance worker spotted Yaser on Aug. 14, 2017,” the Justice Department said in a news release. “He later harbored his brother inside a home in Justin, Texas. On Aug. 25, 2020 FBI agents observed Mr. Said and his nephew deliver grocery bags to the residence, then followed the men to a shopping center 20 miles away, were they dumped trash retrieved from the home.”
Agents moved in and made their capture.
Islam Said pleaded guilty to charges and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
With federal prosecutors having dispensed with their cases, attention now turns to the State’s capital murder case against Yaser Said. Court observers say it is possible, although not likely, that either Yassein or Islam could seek a reduced prison term in exchange for their testimony.
“It would seem unlikely that the brother would now voluntarily turn on his brother.” said attorney Ed Klein, KRLD’s legal analyst. “He kept him hidden for 12 years. He understands honor killings. There is the cultural aspect of this where it may be worse in his culture to turn on his brother than to testify against him.”
Yaser Said is still waiting for a judge to set a trial date.
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