Yaser Abdel Said

Yaser Abdel Said (; born January 27, 1957) is an Egyptian-American convicted murderer. On January 1, 2008, Said fatally shot both of his daughters. Both of their bodies were found in his abandoned taxi cab in Irving, Texas. Said went into hiding, evading arrest for 12 years. He remained a fugitive from law enforcement for the duration of his hiding, and for six of those years, he was on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.

Said, who was very controlling over his family, felt that his daughters Amina and Sarah dishonored the family, primarily due to them dating non-Muslims, as well as for refusing to enter arranged marriages. On January 1, 2008, he lured them into his taxi cab on the pretense of taking them out to eat, where instead, he fatally shot them.

Said was captured on August 26, 2020, in the town of Justin, Texas. His son, Islam, and Said's brother, Yassein, were both arrested in Euless, Texas, for aiding a fugitive. Said was taken into federal custody by the FBI, and was then transferred to Dallas County where he was held until his trial, which commenced in August 2022. Said was found guilty on August 9 after a week-long trial and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of April 2024 Said is imprisoned at the McConnell Unit located near Beeville, Texas.

Background and family Said was born in Arish, 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. Patricia later alleged that Said abused her during their marriage. Amina was born in 1989, and Sarah was born in 1990. 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.

Abuse of Amina and Sarah According to reports, the girls had stated that their father physically and sexually abused them. Amina told authorities she had been penetrated at least once and confirmed that their mother knew about the situation but did nothing to stop it.

Said would often spy on his daughters by video or audio-taping them without their knowledge. Amina stated she was afraid of using the public telephone "because he [Said] gets in everywhere, he knows everything". She also wrote in emails that her father intended to kill her.

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.

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 shot both girls to death in the taxi cab. Amina, who was shot twice, died instantly, while Sarah, who sustained nine shots, managed to call 911 before she died, screaming "Help, my dad shot me! I'm dying, I'm dying!"

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).

Aftermath After the murders, Said disappeared and although it was first assumed he fled to Egypt, no such record was ever found. Owens filed for divorce in 2009. Alleged sightings of Said driving a taxi in New York City and in Newark, New Jersey, prompted the FBI to issue a statement suggesting he could be in the area. On December 4, 2014, Said was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives with a $100,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.

Three years later, in August 2020, the 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. After a week of surveillance, the FBI obtained a search warrant and arrested Yaser on August 26, 2020. On the same day in nearby Euless, Texas, they also arrested Islam, age 32, and Yassein Abdulfatah Said, age 59. Said's son and brother were both charged with concealing a person from arrest. Authorities suspect that other people helped Said evade arrest over the years, and a federal criminal complaint said that Islam was in contact with two more of his father's brothers. His trial opened on August 2, 2022. Said argued through a translator that he was not present during the murders, having taken his daughters in his taxi for a ride and that there was a threat following them that made him leave, leaving his two daughters alone as Said had thought he was a target. After hearing closing arguments and three hours of deliberation, the jury found Said guilty of capital murder. , he is incarcerated at Texas Department of Criminal Justice's McConnell Unit in Bee County, Texas.

Islam On January 19, 2021, Islam Yaser-Abdel Said pleaded guilty to harboring a fugitive, conspiring to harbor a fugitive, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. On April 27, 2021, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the aforementioned charges. , he is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring.

Yassein According to his defense, Yassein Abdulfatah Said On February 4, 2021, he was found guilty of conspiracy and harboring a fugitive. He was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on June 4, 2021. , he is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Bastrop.

In 2015, The Hunt With John Walsh profiled the killings and Yaser Said's fugitive status.