Saeed QASHASH

Classification: Mass murderer
Characteristics: Parricide
Number of victims: 12
Date of murders: June 10, 1998
Date of birth: 1979
Victims profile: 11 members of his family and a friend
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Jordan
Status: Executed by hanging in his prison cell on June 6, 1999

Murdered 12 members of his family after they criticize him for his failure in secondary school exams.

Was executed by hanging in his prison cell.

On June 6, 1999, Saeed Qashash, a 20-year-old Jordanian convicted of shooting to death 11 members of his family and a friend, was hanged in his prison cell.

Saeed Qashash was executed shortly before dawn at Swaqa Prison, 60 miles south of the capital, Amman. Qashash was sentenced November, 1998, for gunning down a classmate and 11 relatives, including his parents.

He confessed to the murders, saying his family had pestered him to pass his final school exams. After the shooting, Qashash hid the bodies behind a brick wall in the basement of his family home. He was arrested days later. In addition to his parents and friend, Qashash killed his two brothers and four sisters, a brother-in-law and two nephews, ages two and three.

Saeed Qashash

June 6, 1999

A 20-year-old Jordanian convicted of shooting to death 11 members of his family and a friend last year was hanged in his prison cell. Saeed Qashash was executed shortly before dawn at Swaqa Prison, 60 miles south of the capital, Amman.

Jordanian hanged for killing family

Pakistani Business Recorder

June 7, 1999

AMMAN: Jordan executed on Sunday a young man condemned to death for the slaughtering three generations of his family and a friend, jail officials said. Saeed al-Qashash, who was 19 years old when he committed the crime in June last year, was sentenced in November for shooting dead a school friend and 11 relatives including his parents and two toddlers.

Qashash, who said his family had harassed him about passing his final school exams, was hung at dawn at Sawaqa jail, 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Amman, the officials said.

After shooting the victims in the head Qashash bricked up their bodies in the basement of his family home, but was arrested and confessed two days later.

Apart from his mother, 50, and father, 57, Qashash murdered his two brothers and four sisters as well as the husband of one of his sisters, their children aged two and three years old -- and the friend.

Jordan executes man convicted of killing 12

Star Tribune

June 7, 1888

A 20-year-old Jordanian convicted of shooting to death 11 members of his family and a friend last year was hanged Sunday in his prison cell.

Al Qashash executed

The Jordanian Star

December 7, 1999

Teenager Saeed Al Qashash, who was found guilty of murdering 12 members of his family including his friend, in June 1998, was executed on Sunday.

Al Qashash shot 11 members of his family: His mother Thuria, his father Amin, sisters Karimeh, Wafa, Mervit, Insaf, her husband and their two children. His brothers Mohammed and Mostafa and victim number 12, his close friend, Atta Shalan.

Al Qashash said that his family used to criticize him for his failure in secondary school exams, and he couldn't take it anymore, so he decided to kill them. Minutes before his execution the young teenager asked for God's forgiveness and redemption, and he said that he was sorry that he murdered his family in such a savage way. He was declared dead at six o'clock Monday morning. But his family refused to receive his body and asked the police to bury his corpse.

Motives for latest murders baffle society

AMMAN -Jordanians were shocked last week by the mass killing by a youth of 11 members of his family and his friend.

It was reported that the teenager's likely motivation for the crime was a "precautionary measure" in response to the family's threat to kick him out of the house if he failed the Tawjihi exams. But later it was reported that he did it in order to inherit the house and his father's company. This news remains unconfirmed.

The public's immediate reaction towards the incident was condemnation of such a heinous crime. Many described the killer to be "impious and ungrateful" for assassinating three generations of his family.

Now people are beginning to focus more on what made him commit such a terrible crime-what are the real motives behind it?

Dr Sari Nasir from the University of Jordan told The Star that it is better to wait and see the result of the investigations, adding that all we can do now is speculate. "Generally speaking, crime is escalating in Jordan, and there are three main causes behind it," he remarked.

Society is growing and expanding, and therefore becoming more complicated. Economic factors also play a significant role in rising levels of crime. It is important too, to take into consideration the pressure imposed by parents on their sons which sometimes leads to conflicts between the two generations. "Parents always press their sons to study hard and get high marks, notwithstanding their own desires or abilities," Dr Nasir added.

Commenting on this latest incident, Dr Nasir elaborated, "Undoubtedly his personality must be disturbed and, after being pressured by the family, he might have had a breakdown and committed the crime."

Dr Nasir called on the government to pay closer attention to social problems in Jordanian society as they directly affect levels of crime.

However, few seem to sympathize with the killer and say that he must be abnormal or be suffering from psychological problems.

One analyst trying to understand the killer's motive stressed that many people suffer under oppressive parents or have other frustrations, whether at school or in their daily lives. They are being brought up to be aggressive. "Inside us lies two personalities, the soldier and the philosopher. The first likes to be strong and powerful, while the second prefers to be quiet, romantic and mostly dreaming," he said. "Also, in our daily life, things are complicated and people with heavy burdens and responsibilities become tense and start to lose control over their nerves. In a split second their outrage could turn them into murderers."

One student said that many parents force their children to study well in order to pass their exams, a policy often unpopular with the children themselves. A conflict may then arise within the family and reach a stage where issues cannot be settled in a peaceful manner.

Another student sees the conflict between generations as the problem that brought this incident to such a dramatic end. He believes that we have to reform our families and "reshuffle the system", altering our way of life to avoid future massacres of this nature. Poverty, stress or psychological illness may be motives for violent crime, but surely not Tawjihi exams.

Nowadays, Tawjihi exams are the source of much sarcasm -a time bomb that could explode at any time. Parents, elderly brothers and sisters are advised to take care of Tawjihi students, or else.