Thread: Police: Ariz. dad ran over 'Westernized' daughter

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091030/...ljZWFyaXpkYQ--

PEORIA, Ariz. – An Iraqi immigrant accused of running down his daughter in Arizona with his car because she was becoming "too Westernized" has been arrested in Georgia, authorities said Friday.

Jim Joyner, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlanta, said Faleh Almaleki was arrested Thursday when he arrived at Atlanta's airport, sent from the United Kingdom after authorities denied him entrance.

Almaleki, 48, awaits extradition to Arizona and will face two counts of aggravated assault, according to Peoria police.

He is accused of striking and then running over his 20-year-old daughter and a family friend with his Jeep on Oct. 20 as the women were walking across a Peoria parking lot.

Noor Almaleki remains hospitalized in serious condition after undergoing spinal surgery. The friend, Amal Khalaf, is in serious but stable condition, according to family members.

Khalaf, 43, is the mother of Noor Almaleki's boyfriend.

Police said the Almalekis moved to Peoria from Iraq in the mid-1990s.

Family members said Noor Almaleki had been living with her boyfriend and Khalaf, and Faleh Almaleki was upset that his daughter had become too "Westernized," had failed to live by traditional Muslim values and had disrespected the family.

After the incident, authorities said Almaleki drove his vehicle to Mexico and abandoned it in Nogales, where Mexican officials later located and seized it.

Almaleki made his way to Mexico City, where he boarded a plane to London, but United Kingdom Port of Entry authorities denied him entry into the country.

They contacted U.S. authorities and Almaleki was put on a flight back to Atlanta, where he was arrested upon arrival.

Ariz. jails Iraqi driver after daughter run down
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091101/...JpemphaWxzaXJh

PEORIA, Ariz. – An Iraqi immigrant accused of running down his daughter with his car because she was becoming "too Westernized" was returned to Arizona Saturday to face aggravated assault charges.

Faleh Almaleki was arrested Thursday when he arrived at Atlanta's airport, sent from the United Kingdom after authorities denied him entrance. He was returned to the Phoenix-area city of Peoria, booked and taken to a county jail.

He is accused of striking and then running over his 20-year-old daughter and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep on Oct. 20 as the women were walking across a Peoria parking lot.

Noor Almaleki remains hospitalized in serious condition after undergoing spinal surgery. The other woman, Amal Khalaf, is in serious but stable condition, according to family members.

Police said the Almalekis moved to Peoria from Iraq in the mid-1990s.

Family members said Noor Almaleki had been living with her boyfriend and Khalaf, and Faleh Almaleki was upset that his daughter had become too "Westernized," had failed to live by traditional Muslim values and had disrespected the family.

After the incident, authorities said Almaleki went to Mexico. He eventually flew to London, but United Kingdom Port of Entry authorities denied him entry into the country.

They contacted U.S. authorities and Almaleki was put on a flight back to Atlanta, where he was arrested.

Woman hit with car by Iraqi father in Ariz. dies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091103/...9tYW5oaXR3aXRo

PHOENIX – A young Iraqi woman whose father allegedly hit her with his car because she had become too Westernized died from her injuries Monday after laying in a coma for nearly two weeks.

Noor Faleh Almaleki, 20, underwent spinal surgery and had been in a hospital since Oct. 20, when police say her father ran down her and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep as the women were walking across a parking lot in the west Phoenix suburb of Peoria.

The other woman, Amal Khalaf, is expected to survive.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, fled after the attack but was arrested Thursday when he arrived at Atlanta's airport, where he was sent from the United Kingdom after authorities denied him entrance.

Peoria police interviewed him and brought him back to Arizona over the weekend, but have declined to release what Almaleki said to them.

At a court hearing over the weekend in Phoenix, county prosecutor Stephanie Low told a judge that Almaleki admitted to committing the crime.

"By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family," Low said. "This was an attempt at an honor killing."

Family members had told police that Almaleki attacked his daughter because he believed she had become too Westernized and was not living according to his traditional Iraqi values.

Almaleki, wearing a jail uniform, said only his name and birth date during the hearing. He has declined requests to be interviewed.

Almaleki had faced charges of aggravated assault, but Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef said the charges will be upgraded in light of Noor Faleh Almaleki's death.

Police said the Almalekis moved to Peoria from Iraq in the mid-1990s.

Arizona "honor killing" trial set to start
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110123/...us_iraqi_trial
PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Iraqi immigrant is due to begin trial on Monday to face charges he murdered his daughter by running her over with a Jeep because he believed she was too Westernized.

Opening arguments are scheduled to begin in Maricopa County Superior Court in the case of Faleh Hassan Almaleki, accused of what prosecutors say was an October 2009 "honor killing" over his daughter's behavior.

Police say he crashed his Jeep Laredo into his 20 year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki, and her boyfriend's mother, as the two walked across a parking lot in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria. The daughter died two weeks later; the mother recovered.

The 50-year-old Almaleki faces life in prison if convicted by the 12-member jury.

He is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and two counts of hit and run.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined comment on Friday. Jeff Kirchler, Almaleki's public defender, did not respond to a message left with his office.

Almaleki told detectives and witnesses that he was angry at his daughter because she was "too Westernized," and he felt she was defying Iraqi and Muslim values, said Jay Davies, a spokesman for the Peoria Police Department.

The daughter had shunned an arranged marriage, and was living with her boyfriend and his mother, police said.

The United Nations has documented honor killings in Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and other countries, but the practice of killing a family member -- often a woman or a girl -- over perceived shame is relatively rare in the United States.

Following his daughter's death, Almaleki fled to Mexico and later to London, where he was taken into custody upon his arrival. He is being held on $5 million bail.

At a court hearing over the weekend in Phoenix, county prosecutor Stephanie Low told a judge that Almaleki admitted to committing the crime.

"By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family," Low said. "This was an attempt at an honor killing."

Why did this take so long to go to trial? Apparently he admitted this and is proud of it, lock him up, throw away the key...better yet, deport him.

Police said the Almalekis moved to Peoria from Iraq in the mid-1990s.

Iraqi guilty of murder in daughter's "honor killing"
Tue Feb 22, 6:47 pm ET



PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona jury on Tuesday found an Iraqi immigrant guilty of second-degree murder for running down his daughter with a Jeep because she had become too Westernized. Faleh Hassan Almalelki struck and killed his daughter Noor Almaleki, 20, in a Phoenix valley parking lot in October 2009, and also injured her boyfriend's mother Amal Khalaf.

After four days of deliberation, the six-man, six-woman jury at Maricopa County Superior Court also convicted him of aggravated assault for crashing his vehicle into Khalaf, and two further counts of hit and run.

He faces 12 years to 54 1/2 years in prison, officials said.

Police said Almaleki told detectives and witnesses after the October 2009 incident that he was angry at his daughter because she was "too Westernized," defying Iraqi and Muslim values. The daughter had shunned an arranged marriage, and was living with her boyfriend and his mother, police said. Authorities had characterized the crime as an "honor killing" to punish the daughter's behavior.

County prosecutor Laura Reckart said an enraged Almaleki hid in the parking lot for her and her boyfriend's mother and then "revved and raced that car right into them."

Defense attorney Elizabeth Mullins painted Almaleki as a caring father who loved his daughter even though she caused him grief, crashing the family van and moving in and out of the house repeatedly.

Mullins said when Almaleki saw his daughter with her boyfriend's mother, he made a "split second" decision to drive by and spit at her, but instead veered out of control and struck the pair. She said he left the scene because his family told him to, and later told police that if his daughter died he would kill himself.

Following his daughter's death, Almaleki fled to Mexico and later to London, where he was taken into custody upon his arrival.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_arizona_iraqi