Yaser Abdel Said

Said was born in Sinai, Egypt. He came to the U.S. on a student visa in 1983. Said married Patricia "Tissie" Owens in February 1987 when he was 30 and she was 15.[8] Patricia later alleged that Said abused her during their marriage.[9] Amina was born in 1989, and Sarah was born in 1990.[10][11] The couple also had a son named Islam Said born in 1988, and Said also had a previous daughter, born in 1987, with another woman. Said later became a permanent resident, eventually gaining citizenship in 1997.[12][13]

The girls told family and friends that their father had physically and sexually abused them. Sarah wrote "he treats me like a whore" in an instant message conversation to a friend. On several occasions, Amina appeared at school with bruises as well as a split lip at one point. Amina told her friends that the wounds were inflicted by her father, and her mother did not allow her to seek medical attention.[14] Amina told authorities she had been penetrated at least once.[3]

Said would often spy on his daughters by video or audio-taping them without their knowledge.[15][16] Amina stated she was afraid of using the public telephone "because he [Said] gets in everywhere, he knows everything".[17][18] She also wrote in emails that her father intended to kill her.[4] When she was 16 Said took Amina to Egypt allegedly to arrange a marriage for her to a much older friend of his, but Amina rejected the marriage.

Sarah got an after-school job working in a convenience store. Said began video-taping her at work and punished her for smiling too much at the customers.[19]

Amina began dating a boy named Joseph Moreno whom she met while taking Taekwondo classes. When Said was out of the country, she felt anxious about meeting Moreno, imagining that Said would be watching her with binoculars.[15] Amina told Moreno not to call or text her if she sent a codeword to him because she was afraid that her father would go through her phone. Eventually, Said found a note that she had written to Moreno. Amina told him that these notes were to an imaginary boyfriend. Said, not trusting Amina, continued his search in order to uncover Amina's relationship.

Said moved his family 20 miles (32 km) to a new house in Lewisville, Texas,[15] prompting Amina to make plans to run away with Moreno, get married in Las Vegas, and start a new life. Moreno then dropped out of high school in order to earn money, so that he could save up enough money in order to help her leave. Moreno also stated: "[Said] regularly threatened to kill Amina, and she knew he meant it."[15] Amina was worried that Moreno would be killed by her father, and she refused to give her father his name while she was beaten, following Said's persistent accusations.

After Christmas in 2007,[15] Amina and Sarah ran away with their mother Patricia to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Amina's boyfriend had relatives. Patricia allegedly told her daughters that December 31st was her mother's death anniversary and that she wanted to drive to East Texas to put flowers on her grave. However, Yaser, after having inundated Patricia with phone calls (from himself and other relatives) that were initially unsuccessful, eventually convinced her to return to their home with the girls.[15] When Patricia communicated this change of plans to her daughters, Sarah reluctantly agreed to return, while Amina refused, ultimately seeking refuge in her friend's house. Patricia drove to the friend's house and pounded on the door, starting an argument with Amina to try and convince her to return to Said. Amina still refused to go. Patricia insisted and stood unmoved in the doorway, saying that her father had forgiven her and would like the girls to return home.[20]

On January 1, 2008, Yaser Said took Amina and Sarah to his taxi cab, kissed them, and told them he was taking them out to eat. Patricia initially wanted to come along, but Said told her that he wanted to talk to the girls himself. He drove them both to Irving, where he allegedly shot both girls to death in the taxi cab. Amina died instantly, while Sarah managed to call 911 before she died, screaming "Help, my dad shot me! I'm dying, I'm dying!"[21]

Said's taxi was soon discovered by another cab driver outside the service entrance of the Omni Mandalay Hotel (now the Omni Las Colinas Hotel).[22][23]

After the murders, Said disappeared and although it was first assumed he flew to Egypt, no such record was ever found. Owens filed for divorce in 2009. Said evaded capture by law enforcement for 12 years and spent six years on the FBI's top 10 Most Wanted list. Alleged sightings of Said driving a taxi in New York City and in Newark, New Jersey prompted the FBI to issue a statement suggesting as such.[24][25][26] On December 4, 2014, Said was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list with a $100,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.[25]

A break in the case came on August 14, 2017 when a maintenance worker at an apartment complex owned by Yaser's son, Islam Said, reported seeing a man matching Yaser's description inside of Islam's apartment. When detectives showed him a picture of Yaser Said, the worker identified him as the man he had seen in the apartment. At approximately 6:30 p.m. that evening, an agent came into the apartment to interview Islam. He was upset and allegedly refused to cooperate. He then called someone saying, “we have a problem.” At 1:00 AM, a search warrant was executed on the apartment, which was empty at the time. However, police observed a sliding glass patio door open. Underneath the patio, they noticed a bush with broken branches, suggesting someone had jumped off the patio and landed on the bush. Next to the flattened bush, they found a pair of eyeglasses, which they collected as evidence. They collected evidence inside the apartment, including several cigarette butts and a toothbrush. The FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia compared the DNA from those items to the DNA of Amina and Sarah, and determined the DNA most likely came from their biological father.[27]

Later, in August 2020, police began 24-hour surveillance on a home in Justin, Texas. They observed Islam and Yassein entering and exiting the home and the shadow of another man inside the home after the two men had left.[28]

In 2017, after a tip from a maintenance worker who claimed to have seen Yaser, a special agent was sent to Islam's residence in Bedford, but he was prevented from entering by Islam. In August 2020, after surveillance for 1 week at Dalal's (the daughter of Yassein) residence in Justin, the FBI obtained a search warrant where they arrested Yaser on August 26.[29][30] On the same day in nearby Euless, Texas, the FBI also arrested Islam, age 32, and Yassein Abdulfatah Said, age 59.[31] Said's son and brother are both charged with concealing a person from arrest. If convicted, both could face up to five years in prison. Authorities suspect that other people helped Said evade arrest over the years, and a federal criminal complaint says that Islam Said was in contact with two more of his father’s brothers.[32]

Shortly after being captured by law enforcement, the FBI updated the "wanted" page for Said from "Wanted" to "Captured."[7] He was later booked into the Dallas County North Tower Detention Facility.[33]

The Price of Honor is a 2014 documentary about the murders of Sarah and Amina Said.[37][38]

• List of fugitives from justice who are no longer sought
• Honor killings in the United States:
  • Noor Almaleki
  • Ali Irsan (killed Gelareh Bagherzadeh and Coty Beavers)
  • Murder of Tina Isa
  • Sandeela Kanwal
• Filicide in Texas:
  • John Battaglia
  • Deanna Laney murders
  • Darlie Routier
  • Andrea Yates

• "Videos recorded by dad accused in decade-old honor killings show interactions with daughters". WFAA. June 28, 2019.