Muslim Who Executed His Own Daughter with Two Shots to the Head Claims It Was All by Accident, Not an Honor Killing

If a father shoots his adult daughter in the head three times while asleep in her bed, then claims it was an accident, it sounds too bizarre to believe.




Something like this could not happen here in America. Or could it?



Authorities say that’s exactly what happened in Rocky River, Ohio, on Sept. 27, leaving the community in shock and disbelief.



Last week in court, Jamal Mansour, 64, pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges, and his attorney reaffirmed the same reason for the shooting: A mere accident.



This despite new evidence entered into court that Mansour was caught on video loading his revolver at a gas station the day before the shooting.



That adds yet another layer to the case. Not only did Mansour shoot his 27-year-old daughter, Tahani, three times in the head at close range, once from just one foot away, while she lie helpless in her bed at 1:15 a.m., but he should have known his gun was loaded, prosecutors said.



The prosecution is not buying the “accident” theory, saying the video of him loading his gun the day before proves he had a “calculated plan.”



Prosecutor Michael O’Shea has described the killing as an assassination carried out “execution style,” but he refuses to say what could have motivated Mansour, leading some to suggest that it was an honor killing.



But the defendant’s attorney, Angelo Lenardo, took issue with that, saying the mere suggestion was “racist and offensive.”



To decipher a motive, the prosecutors may need to consult an expert on Shariah law, which guides Muslim fathers in family matters.



Mansour is a Muslim who migrated to the United States in the 1978 from Jordan. And, according to experts on Islamic law, his execution-style killing of his adult daughter bears the hallmarks of an Islamic honor killing.