A controlling husband who murdered his wife by stabbing her 14 times on Christmas Eve, after claiming she had an affair and recorded her on his mobile phone as she lay dying, has been jailed for life.
"It's hard to see what can be salvaged from this wreckage. I wish [the family] well in trying to put this behind them and move forward in life," said Mr Justice Tony Hunt at the Central Criminal Court today.
Bahaalddin Alshwawrah, aged 45, with an address at Park Na Sillogue Court, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, was charged with the murder of Zeinat Bashabsheh, aged 42, at the same address on 24 December 2021.
Detective Sergeant Gerard Brennan confirmed to counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ronan Kennedy SC, that a trial date was originally fixed for 12 May this year before a plea was entered in April.
Det Sgt Brennan said that the deceased and Alshwawrah met online, with Ms Bashabsheh travelling to Jordan to meet him, before they married and relocated to Ireland, where they had three children together.
The court heard that Ms Bashabsheh had two children from a previous relationship.
On Christmas Eve 2021, the defendant banged on the window of his neighbour's house shouting that he had killed his wife, before he walked calmly back to his own house and rang someone on his mobile phone.
Two neighbours entered his home, where they observed his wife slumped on the floor in a corner of the kitchen, with multiple stab wounds to her torso.
The defendant was on the phone at the time, shouting: "I hope she dies."
Det Sgt Brennan said that Alshwawrah was making allegations that his wife had an affair, saying that he was videoing the incident to send to another man.
Det Sgt Brennan said that the defendant's phone was seized and analysed, with videos on the device showing Ms Bashabsheh slumped on the floor during "the final throes of life".
He confirmed the videos showed that Alshwawrah did not offer any assistance to his wife.
The detective said that Facebook messages, both written and voice, were sent by the defendant to an account, including videos of Ms Bashabsheh dying. He said that a video of Ms Bashabsheh dying on the floor was sent to another account with the message: "I killed my wife."
The detective confirmed that State Pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis determined that the cause of death was stab wounds to the chest, with 14 stab wounds inflicted with a single-edged blade having been identified in total.
Det Sgt Brennan said that, in interview, Alshwawrah suggested that he had been a victim of violence by his wife on previous occasions but no evidence of this was found.
The detective said that gardaí obtained detailed evidence that controverted many of the defendant's claims, adding that Alshwawrah was aggressive and controlling of his wife.
He said that in 2018, Ms Bashabsheh obtained an interim barring order against her husband, alleging that he had stabbed her with a knife.
In a victim impact statement read out by Mr Kennedy, Ms Bashabsheh's family said that "our beloved Zeinat was brutally taken from us".
"She was the heart of our family, her presence lit up every room," they said, describing her as a devoted mother.
"When we look into the eyes of her children, we see a pain that no child should know," said the family.
"We now live every day with a hole in our hearts that can never be filled. Each of us has lost a piece of themselves... She did not deserve to die in such a violent, senseless way, and we did not deserve to lose someone so precious to us."
In a letter of apology, read out by defence counsel, Michael Bowman SC, Alshwawrah said: "I took away my wife's life and I will never forgive myself... I wish I could turn back time, but I know this is not possible."
He apologised to his children for having to grow up without their parents.
Mr Justice Hunt said this had been a very upsetting case to listen to, in which a relatively young life had been taken away in "a very violent and uncaring way". He said the fact that fatal wounds were inflicted while the defendant was recording and sharing it, defied belief.
Mr Justice Hunt imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison.
