Speaker 1: For some people, family are the ones they can always
Speaker 1: rely on. However, that is not always the case for everybody.
Speaker 1: For some they live with tyrants, bullies, and monsters straight
Speaker 1: out of a nightmare. Today we talk about the murder
Speaker 1: of two young girls who had their life taken away
Speaker 1: by their own father because he didn't approve of their
Speaker 1: American lifestyle. This is the case of Yasir abdel Zayid
Speaker 1: and the Honor killings. My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and
Speaker 1: you're listening to Wicked and Grim true crime podcast.
Speaker 2: The following podcast material intended for a mature audience listener discretion.
Speaker 1: Ad Is it just me? Or is it just warmer
Speaker 1: all around right now? For November?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean, wasn't it like I think it was
Speaker 2: like thirteen degrees here Celsius, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Which is insane. And I saw a post from like
Speaker 1: we all know that one guy in I think it's
Speaker 1: New York dude with a sign. Oh yeah, I love
Speaker 1: he holds up the cardboard sign with just stuff. He
Speaker 1: had a post the other day and it was it
Speaker 1: should be colder right now. I agree though it seems
Speaker 1: like it should be.
Speaker 2: I generally like warmer temperature, so I'm kind of okay
Speaker 2: with it, but we're also in a stint right now
Speaker 2: where we need coldertures.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but like we're in northern British Columbia, Canada and
Speaker 1: it's well, we're over a week into November and it's
Speaker 1: raining right now. That's not normal.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's been some times though where we
Speaker 2: don't really get snow until even Christmas. Though.
Speaker 1: Yes, but we'll get cold snaps and it'll be cold
Speaker 1: for well and then it'll warm up for a few
Speaker 1: days and it'll melt, but not just consistently warm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think as a whole, the average
Speaker 1: temperature right now is just higher for whatever reason, it's
Speaker 1: a warm year. I think, at least a warm start
Speaker 1: to this or well end of the year.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I haven't really worn my winter cult much,
Speaker 2: so I guess that is saying something.
Speaker 1: It does say something. We also had a lot of
Speaker 1: you guys say something when you emailed and messaged us
Speaker 1: regarding your thoughts between Halloween and Christmas and the battle
Speaker 1: that happens. Line seems to be pretty drawn right down
Speaker 1: the middle. I'm being honest. So I don't know.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's it's some people have their stuff up,
Speaker 2: some people don't. Some people are waiting for Remembrance Day
Speaker 2: and stuff. So there's a little, a little sway in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it seems like it's like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's just everyone's just doing their own thing, which I like.
Speaker 1: And it seems like it's like a fifty to fifty.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, some do, some don't, and no one's
Speaker 1: really concerned with the other. No one understands the other,
Speaker 1: but no one's really concerned with the other side, you know,
Speaker 1: which is cool.
Speaker 2: I did order us a new Christmas decoration.
Speaker 1: Oh great, you're welcome. Ah, what is it?
Speaker 2: It's like this rustic little vintage like bell on him.
Speaker 2: It suits are decre like really well, it's like gold,
Speaker 2: these little bells, Like it's really pretty.
Speaker 1: I have a feeling I could have made it for
Speaker 1: way cheaper. Can't. Couldn't. I have gone to like a
Speaker 1: second hand before I found some bells, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: very expensive.
Speaker 2: But I will admit that the shipping was a bit
Speaker 2: more than I anticipated.
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, fine, it sounds cool.
Speaker 2: But it was eighteen dollars. That's not a lot of money.
Speaker 1: I mean, depending on what item you purchased, what it
Speaker 1: looks like, how big it is, how the quality?
Speaker 2: Well, we'll see. But also like you have to consider time, right,
Speaker 2: your time, that's true, time is money.
Speaker 1: Anyways, we digress. We got a case and a half
Speaker 1: to get into today. This one caught my attention strictly
Speaker 1: by the title, and then when I dove into it,
Speaker 1: I was like, holy shit.
Speaker 2: So so we're in for a doozy.
Speaker 1: We are in for a doozy. And this is a
Speaker 1: two parter. Okay, so we're going to go into a
Speaker 1: lot of the family history before we go into the
Speaker 1: actual crime. And one of the cool things is there
Speaker 1: is a documentary released only a few days ago. I
Speaker 1: think it was like ten days ago now, where they
Speaker 1: actually interview the father of this family who committed the
Speaker 1: crime and some of the stuff he has to say
Speaker 1: on his thoughts on it. It's kind of wild, but
Speaker 1: we'll we'll definitely get into that more into part two. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you ready for this one?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Are you going to do it?
Speaker 2: I was thinking we needed to thank patrons, but that's
Speaker 2: that's a Tuesday thing.
Speaker 1: That's a Tuesday I was waiting for that, but no,
Speaker 1: that's on Tuesday. We are not Tuesday right now, so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, happy Friday. We can just dive right in.
Speaker 1: End of the week. Okay, let's dive right in. Like
Speaker 1: you say. So, I wrote a little intro specifically on
Speaker 1: my my perception on this case, so let me let
Speaker 1: me read my thoughts and intro. It was almost like
Speaker 1: a little diary entry that I want to lose my
Speaker 1: thought process at this time. Okay, So I recently crossed
Speaker 1: it came across a case that immediately piqued my interest.
Speaker 1: It stood out amongst all the other stories on my
Speaker 1: list to cover because not it's not your typical crime case. Yes,
Speaker 1: it involves murder. However, the story surrounding it is much
Speaker 1: different than anything you've covered before on this podcast. Up
Speaker 1: until now, it's been murdered for love, hatred, belief systems,
Speaker 1: and even the sheer thrill of it. But this case
Speaker 1: is regarding something called an honor killing, and we will
Speaker 1: get into what exactly that is with all the details.
Speaker 1: It is kind of along the belief system portion, but
Speaker 1: it's a fine fine line when you're talking about beliefs,
Speaker 1: and this is not really beliefs but kind of belief driven.
Speaker 1: At the same time, like is it okay?
Speaker 2: Am I able to say, like a sacrifice of sorts?
Speaker 1: No? No, definitely not no idea what we're covering. Well,
Speaker 1: let's get let's get into the actual story. But I
Speaker 1: couldn't find a whole lot of information regarding this individual,
Speaker 1: Yeseir Abdel said, But what I do know is that
Speaker 1: he was born in Sinhai, Egypt. He was the oldest
Speaker 1: of five children in his family, with his younger three
Speaker 1: brothers and younger one sister. Now, yes Sir had come
Speaker 1: to United States on a student visa in nineteen eighty three,
Speaker 1: but he wasn't the only member of his family now
Speaker 1: living in the States either. It seemed like all of
Speaker 1: his siblings did, and potentially his parents as well. So
Speaker 1: as far as how many had come to move to
Speaker 1: North America and how they all did not too certain,
Speaker 1: But regardless, Yesir was now living in Texas with at
Speaker 1: least some of his family, and they were all kind
Speaker 1: of working, at least some of them were working at
Speaker 1: this small convenience store next to some apartment buildings. And
Speaker 1: it was here that Yesir's younger brother Yasin, would meet
Speaker 1: a girl by the name of Patricia Owens who often
Speaker 1: went by the name of Tissy. I just love that
Speaker 1: fucking nip nickname.
Speaker 2: I actually did too.
Speaker 1: I haven't heard that right because they're talking Patricia. You're
Speaker 1: thinking like pat Patty, Patty as Trisha. Yeah, but Tissy, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's different and I love it. Yeah yeah. Now, Tissy
Speaker 1: had several siblings, though the exact number varies in accounts
Speaker 1: between the reporting sources, but the sources often described her
Speaker 1: as having at least six or more siblings. Okay, now,
Speaker 1: she grew up in a fairly poor household. Their family
Speaker 1: didn't have a whole lot to say, at least to
Speaker 1: say the least, but they did their best. Now, one day,
Speaker 1: while at the convenience store next to their apartment, Tissy
Speaker 1: was introduced to Ya Scene as he was working his shift. Now,
Speaker 1: the two eventually started talking and came a little bit more,
Speaker 1: and they started dating when Tissy was only fourteen years old.
Speaker 1: Now it's fairly early on their relationship, and Ya Scene
Speaker 1: began mentioning the idea of marriage. The two were both
Speaker 1: young and close in age. I do want to mention that.
Speaker 1: So it seemed like puppy love talk sort of thing,
Speaker 1: although you've seen, however, was much more serious than puppy love.
Speaker 1: He even approached Tissy's dad and requisitioned the idea that
Speaker 1: he signed the guardian consent documentations on the marriage farms
Speaker 1: to make it all happen. Now, Tissy's dad agreed, He agreed,
Speaker 1: he said he would. However, the marriage would actually never
Speaker 1: come to fruition. The young couple broke up and went
Speaker 1: their separate ways within the year. Now, this wasn't the
Speaker 1: end of the family's relationship between each other though, as
Speaker 1: you see her would soon step in and get in
Speaker 1: dating Tissy instead of his younger brother. You see, at
Speaker 1: this time, Tissy was now fifteen years old, and you
Speaker 1: see her was much older at twenty nine years O.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, Okay, yeah, he was.
Speaker 1: Nearly double her age with a fourteen year gap and
Speaker 1: she's a minor.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, I'm like at that age difference whatever, but
Speaker 2: at that age that ain't legal.
Speaker 1: No, And I do want to say one thing, and
Speaker 1: I am not one to really judge other cultures, but
Speaker 1: in this documentary I mentioned earlier you're seeing sorry you
Speaker 1: see her was talking about that gate age gap. That's
Speaker 1: one of the first things they really touch on. And
Speaker 1: it's a quick little question. He kind of just brushes
Speaker 1: onto the rug saying it's like, it's no big deal.
Speaker 1: Where I came from, it's pretty cool, Okay. So it's
Speaker 1: a common practice in his culture. Doesn't mean it's a
Speaker 1: correct practice or something that should be practiced, But to him,
Speaker 1: it's no big deal because that happens frequently. Apparently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the end, I mean, maybe things have changed
Speaker 2: over the years. Like I don't know, because you said
Speaker 2: this was like the eighties, so I don't necessarily know.
Speaker 2: I mean, it still would have been illegal in the
Speaker 2: eighties and in the United States, I'm assuming, but like
Speaker 2: they're living in the United States right now, so that
Speaker 2: isn't okay exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, even if it is over in your own country
Speaker 1: and that is common, that still doesn't mean it's okay.
Speaker 1: There's people in other countries who stone other people to death,
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that's okay to say, yeah. Yeah, now, still
Speaker 1: the two you would get married. You see, her approached
Speaker 1: Tizzy's father much like his younger brother did, but this
Speaker 1: time he was met with hesitation, and for obvious reasons.
Speaker 1: The father you mean, yeah, you see her was with
Speaker 1: hesitations from the father. Oh okay, but year said he
Speaker 1: loved Tissy, and you could support her in their new
Speaker 1: life together. He pretty much like saying, I'm going to
Speaker 1: devote myself. I can take care of her all this
Speaker 1: sort of stuff. And as you may recall, Tissy's family
Speaker 1: was not very well off. So the idea of their
Speaker 1: daughter being able to have a new life where she's
Speaker 1: looked after, including financially and everything, it's all that. Honestly,
Speaker 1: this family was hoping for with their children, right, find
Speaker 1: a way out and you know, go out and find
Speaker 1: a life for themselves.
Speaker 2: Like that would be a big draw for the.
Speaker 1: Dad one hundred percent. Now the father was allegedly not
Speaker 1: so sure, but the mother was sold on the idea
Speaker 1: because of her daughter getting you know, getting away from
Speaker 1: it all that sort of thing. And so the mother
Speaker 1: and father kind of talked and she convinced him that yes,
Speaker 1: they would give the blessing for them to be married.
Speaker 1: Now you see a promise Tissy the world. And so
Speaker 1: in February of nineteen eighty seven, the two got married.
Speaker 1: Soon after the couple had tied the knot you see,
Speaker 1: her then went and got his green cart, his American
Speaker 1: citizenship and was no longer relying on the student visa.
Speaker 1: That he once had. But that's not the only thing
Speaker 1: that happens. Soon after the marriage, either around seven months
Speaker 1: or so into their marriage, things began to change with
Speaker 1: you seear it became more controlling over Tissy and he
Speaker 1: didn't want her to see her family members anymore because
Speaker 1: they were Americans and Americans aren't good.
Speaker 2: Oh wow. Yeah, so he kind of used them to
Speaker 2: get what he wanted and then for them to sign
Speaker 2: off or whatever, and then now wants to ditch them.
Speaker 1: Yeah kind of pretty much. Yeah, what it seems like.
Speaker 1: He reportedly became more and more abusive as well, things
Speaker 1: like kicking Tissy to wake her up, dumping things on
Speaker 1: the floor only to stand back and watch as he
Speaker 1: made her clean it up.
Speaker 2: Wow on an asshole?
Speaker 1: Yeah no, His actions revile. Basically put it short, his
Speaker 1: words that he talked and spewed were poison. As he
Speaker 1: told Tizzy he never should have married an American. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: but despite their down, downhill relationship, Tizzy didn't know what
Speaker 1: else to do and continued the marriage to this man.
Speaker 2: Well she's quite young.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well. Also, shortly after they got married, Tizzy would
Speaker 1: become pregnant and she would give birth to their first
Speaker 1: child when she was only sixteen years old. They named
Speaker 1: their son Islam, and when he was born on March second,
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, he was in the end. They would
Speaker 1: soon welcome two more children into the world, two more
Speaker 1: to May. First their daughter Amina, who was born in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight when Tizzy was seventeen, and Sarah in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety when she was eighteen. Though Tizzy now had
Speaker 1: three beautiful children in her life, she was left living
Speaker 1: a harsh reality due to her husband she was married to.
Speaker 1: He would bounce around between jobs, mostly driving taxi, but
Speaker 1: would often not work at all. But while all this
Speaker 1: was going on, you see, her had six different affairs
Speaker 1: with Tizzy that she was aware of, leaving her heart
Speaker 1: broken but still dedicated to her family.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, yeah this guy, yeah, youw.
Speaker 1: It seemed like Tizzy had married a monster. But this
Speaker 1: was only the tip of the iceberg. So you see,
Speaker 1: you see, had a history of violence before he came
Speaker 1: to the United States. He had apparently gotten into an
Speaker 1: argument with a coworker. And this information comes directly from
Speaker 1: Tizzy herself when she's talking in an interview. It left
Speaker 1: him extremely angry and looking for a way to take
Speaker 1: his anger out on this individual. So he sat out
Speaker 1: in his car and waited for the coworker to finish
Speaker 1: their shift. And when they did, they walked out from
Speaker 1: the workplace and you see her ran the man over,
Speaker 1: not once, but several times, killing him or what the
Speaker 1: man died and you see your father reportedly solved the
Speaker 1: incident by paying off the family of the deceased.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, oh wow, that is like that's a little
Speaker 2: bit extreme rage issues there.
Speaker 1: That Yeah, that's uh, that's next level. That's a lot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not a simple like, hey, my name's Kyle. I
Speaker 1: punched a hole in the drywall, Like you know, that's
Speaker 1: that's rage. But this is this.
Speaker 2: Is uncontrollable because he actually sat there for some time
Speaker 2: in his vehicle, plotting probably what he was going to do,
Speaker 2: and waited and at no point changed his mind, right.
Speaker 1: Correct, He just when he took saw his moment, he
Speaker 1: took it, and then he took it again and then again.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now this was only the beginning of what you see
Speaker 1: he was ultimately capable of. Though. There is a report
Speaker 1: that was submitted to Child Protective Services that by Tizzy
Speaker 1: regarding their two daughters. Now I've read some of these
Speaker 1: reports and they are graphic and it's extremely hard to
Speaker 1: get through, so I won't divulge the exact details of
Speaker 1: what it contains. But in nineteen ninety eight, Amina and Sarah,
Speaker 1: who were approximately eight and nine years old at the time,
Speaker 1: accused their father of sexual abuse and rape, which prompted
Speaker 1: an investigation by authorities.
Speaker 2: Oh geez okay.
Speaker 1: Initially, the report led to an investigation, and Tizzy supported
Speaker 1: the girl's claims and left Y see her for a time. However,
Speaker 1: she would later withdraw her support of the accusations and
Speaker 1: return to him when there was claims of the girls
Speaker 1: making it all up. There's a lot to go on
Speaker 1: with this, the girls making up the claims. The family
Speaker 1: talks about the girls being told by certain individuals, and
Speaker 1: it's seems like it's always changing because no one really knows.
Speaker 1: But there's thoughts that the girls were told to say
Speaker 1: that they were lying to take it all back to
Speaker 1: redact it most likely out of fear.
Speaker 2: Okay, so it's not for.
Speaker 1: Sure, but it well. Ultimately, there was medical examinations and
Speaker 1: interviews that were done with both of the girls. The
Speaker 1: results were inconclusive and could not determine if an assault
Speaker 1: had or had not occurred.
Speaker 2: Hmm okay. Interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, while this story does focus on well, you know,
Speaker 1: before I could carry on a little bit, I do
Speaker 1: want to touch on this a bit more. It's not
Speaker 1: stuff that I've written down, but it's because I have
Speaker 1: read these reports, and you have two young girls who
Speaker 1: their stories sound quite corroborated and are very descriptive and
Speaker 1: detailed on what occurred. To me, I don't think they're
Speaker 1: making this up. No, and I don't think that them saying, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what, we just made this up. I do
Speaker 1: think that that's most likely being redacted because they're being
Speaker 1: told to most likely out of fear. I fully believe
Speaker 1: that these two little girls were being assaulted by this man.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, because at that age too, do you even know,
Speaker 2: you know, would you be able to describe things to
Speaker 2: that extent, esaysially. Back then, I feel like.
Speaker 1: You don't have access to the internet sort of thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't quickly google things or whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh that's terrible.
Speaker 1: So while this story does focus a lot on you see, he,
Speaker 1: it's not about him, though. It is about his two
Speaker 1: daughters who would ultimately suffer at the hands of this
Speaker 1: strict and disturbed father. Amina and Sarah were both vibrant, intelligent,
Speaker 1: and ambitious young women who aspired to live fulfilled lives
Speaker 1: beyond the confines of their strict household, despite the hardships
Speaker 1: that they face. Their friends and teachers described them as warm, talented,
Speaker 1: and strong spirits. Amina was confident, She was driven and
Speaker 1: academically talented as well. She excelled in her studies and
Speaker 1: had a particular interest in history and literature. She was
Speaker 1: also athletic, participating in taekwondo, and dreamed of going to college.
Speaker 1: Was protective of her younger sister Sarah, and despite the
Speaker 1: fear that she felt in home, remained determined to pursue
Speaker 1: her goals and maintain hope for a better life one day.
Speaker 1: Sarah was born in March twenty second, nineteen ninety. Well,
Speaker 1: I just realized I didn't have Amina's birthday in here.
Speaker 2: Well you had said it at one point though, Okay, okay.
Speaker 1: But Amina was born a year earlier. I believe it
Speaker 1: was actually a March as well, if I'm not mistaken. But anyways,
Speaker 1: Sarah was born March twenty second, nineteen ninety and was
Speaker 1: known for her kind, sweet and gentle demeanor. She was compassionate,
Speaker 1: always willing to support her friends, and she too excelled
Speaker 1: in school. Although quieter and more reserved than Amina, Sarah
Speaker 1: had a great sense of humor and a caring nature.
Speaker 1: She loved spending time with her friends and family, and
Speaker 1: wanted to pursue a life that reflected her own choices
Speaker 1: and aspirations. Now, even in their teenage years, the two
Speaker 1: sisters were very close and shared a strong bond together.
Speaker 1: They were each other's greatest allies as they navigated the
Speaker 1: difficult home life with their father looming over there every
Speaker 1: every move.
Speaker 2: Okay, as you're just kind of saying this as like
Speaker 2: processing too, because the father also, like you said earlier,
Speaker 2: cheated like six times or something right.
Speaker 1: Over the course of Tissies and his marriage. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: six affairs that Tizzy is aware of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's probably more, which kind of shows that
Speaker 2: he does, like have a problem, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, definitely. So the two girls did confide
Speaker 1: in their friends and some teachers about the abusive environment
Speaker 1: created by their father father, but they were very reserved
Speaker 1: about these conversations as well. They never told the whole
Speaker 1: truth and only revealed tiny portions of who their dad
Speaker 1: really was because they were well terrified of him and
Speaker 1: didn't want this to get back right, and so they
Speaker 1: were very strict and kept in line. So if they
Speaker 1: did say something, it was a very watered down version
Speaker 1: of it, to say the least.
Speaker 2: Hmm, that's so sad.
Speaker 1: That's so sad it is now. You see, he's ruling
Speaker 1: controlling behavior was partially rooted in his traditional beliefs about
Speaker 1: gender roles and family honor. After all, he did hail
Speaker 1: from Egypt, as I mentioned earlier, originally where life is
Speaker 1: for many is much different than we experience in Canada,
Speaker 1: so I could never understand truly what it was like
Speaker 1: for him to grow up. But as I also mentioned,
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean it's okay to perpetuate. But one of
Speaker 1: the most evident aspects of his control was his constant
Speaker 1: surveillance and monitoring of his daughters. Yese here would often
Speaker 1: drive them to and from school to oversee their movements
Speaker 1: and ensure they did not interact with people he disapproved of,
Speaker 1: sometimes even following them to confirm his compliance. This compliance
Speaker 1: or of his rulings.
Speaker 2: I'm having trouble like listening to this because I just
Speaker 2: despise him.
Speaker 1: You should, because yeah, yeah, he's kind of a piece
Speaker 1: of shit.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. So it's really sounding like that. I think
Speaker 2: this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're we're only really getting just starting to get there,
Speaker 1: so buck up.
Speaker 2: A little little shy smile.
Speaker 1: But yeah. His this extended to strict restrictions on their
Speaker 1: social lives as well. For the girls, they were forbidden
Speaker 1: from participating in any typical teenager activity, such as parties
Speaker 1: or social events, or interacting with boys, and dating was
Speaker 1: especially prohibited extremely Any romantic relationship was considered a severe
Speaker 1: violation of his rules and a threat to the family's honor.
Speaker 2: Ohly, shit, that sure is interesting considering, Hey, you married
Speaker 2: his own wife at basically like such a young age,
Speaker 2: you know, and sued her and that was like normal
Speaker 2: and stuff.
Speaker 1: Yep, And then it's like, oh, you're in marriage and
Speaker 1: you're not going to honor your family by you know,
Speaker 1: sleeping around. Seems like you get to make up the
Speaker 1: rules for everyone else, they don't apply to you, so gross.
Speaker 1: The control that he wielded was not limited, though, to
Speaker 1: closely watching his daughters to and from school and their
Speaker 1: relationships with other friends and peers. It included emotional and
Speaker 1: physical abuse. He would berate and threaten Amana and Sarah
Speaker 1: to reinforce his dominance and ensure that they adhered to
Speaker 1: his expectations, creating this environment of constant fear and constant anxiety.
Speaker 1: If they stepped out of line or disobeyed, they were
Speaker 1: afraid of what might happen. And this isn't just with
Speaker 1: their father around. They could be at school in classroom
Speaker 1: and if they talked to a boy or something like that,
Speaker 1: they would fear that their dad would somehow know.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, hey, that's quite a way to grow up.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yassir also imposed a strict dress code as well,
Speaker 1: reflecting his conservative type views, requiring the girls to dress
Speaker 1: modestly and behave accordingly to his standards, and as always,
Speaker 1: any deviation from these rules were met with harsh reprimands. Now,
Speaker 1: Sarah at one point got herself an after school job
Speaker 1: working in a convenience store resume, the same one that
Speaker 1: you see her and his siblings had worked at, which
Speaker 1: would make sense because while she worked there, her father
Speaker 1: began videotaping her at work and punished her for smiling
Speaker 1: too much at customers.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, yeah, holy shit.
Speaker 1: There's also reports that you see her even intended to
Speaker 1: arrange marriages for his daughters, even actually flying them to
Speaker 1: Egypt and introducing one of his daughters to one of
Speaker 1: you see he's friends, and she's just like, no, we're not.
Speaker 2: Doing this, okay. So he wanted so it wasn't like
Speaker 2: that he was against the marring or whatever that he
Speaker 2: wanted to be the one to decide who when, and
Speaker 2: all the stuff exactly.
Speaker 1: Now, most of this information is coming from family, and
Speaker 1: it's not something we could ever fully understand, since we're
Speaker 1: obviously not the ones there in their shoes to fully
Speaker 1: experience what they're enduring. However, we have been given a
Speaker 1: rare insight into some someone like you sear see, he
Speaker 1: had an obsession with video rec courting everything under the
Speaker 1: guise of you know, family documentation like family home videos,
Speaker 1: but he was constantly doing it. Which as you watch
Speaker 1: these videos, there there's moments like they seem normal as
Speaker 1: you're watching them, like it's a family interaction, even the
Speaker 1: daughters and stuff. They're laughing and stuff like dad turn
Speaker 1: off the camera haha, whatever, right, But there's moments within
Speaker 1: this footage that shows a small look of what it
Speaker 1: was like living with him. They had this underlying tone
Speaker 1: of surveillance, surveillance almost and possessiveness. He would frequently capture
Speaker 1: Amina and Sarah without warning, sometimes filming them in their
Speaker 1: home or public spaces, and like some of the stuff
Speaker 1: he's saying, it's showing that, it's revealing his suspicious nature
Speaker 1: of what his girls are up to, or his jealous
Speaker 1: nature even potentially if you want to say it this way.
Speaker 1: But worst of all, there's moments where you see her
Speaker 1: would comment on the girls themselves. He'd be recording his
Speaker 1: teenage daughters in their daily lives, and there's comments that
Speaker 1: he's saying on these recordings, out their bodies, their cute legs,
Speaker 1: commenting on their eyes. There's moments when he zooms in
Speaker 1: on their feets and their butts. Hmmm, I just realize
Speaker 1: he had feats its feet.
Speaker 2: But I know I was gonna say something, but I
Speaker 2: was like, oh, slet it be.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's honestly one of the creepiest fucking things I've
Speaker 1: ever seen.
Speaker 2: Well see, Okay, Like sometimes I feel I don't know
Speaker 2: because if you're like the parent though, like you kind
Speaker 2: of like made this kid right and you you still
Speaker 2: think they're like little and cute.
Speaker 1: I gotcha, I gotcha.
Speaker 2: But it's it's crossing a line.
Speaker 1: It's when you watch it, it's different. You instantly you
Speaker 1: can tell the difference that this is not like, oh,
Speaker 1: you got cute little eyes or whatever. No, it's like
Speaker 1: there's there's an underlying fucking tone here, especially when you
Speaker 1: watch all the things he's saying, and it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it just I can't describe it. Okay, you just fucking know,
Speaker 1: you know this isn't right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now. Despite their circumstances, though, the sisters remain hopeful for
Speaker 1: their future and worked hard in school and visioning their
Speaker 1: futures filled with freedom away from this man, this monster.
Speaker 1: But still it was a life of constant fear and
Speaker 1: secrecy under the strict control and watch of their father. Now,
Speaker 1: one day, during taekwondo classes, Amina met a boy named
Speaker 1: Joseph Moreno. They became friends quickly, until one day when
Speaker 1: Amina asked Joseph for his cell phone number. From there,
Speaker 1: they began texting and they developed, you know, a little
Speaker 1: bit of relationship into something more. One day, though, when
Speaker 1: you see her was out of the country, Amina felt
Speaker 1: a rare sense of safety, you know, that her guard
Speaker 1: being dropped, and she took the chance to see Joseph
Speaker 1: even though she couldn't shake the feeling that her father
Speaker 1: might somehow still be watching her, even though he was
Speaker 1: out of the fucking country. She had an irrational fear
Speaker 1: that he was somehow watching her with a pair of
Speaker 1: fucking binoculars.
Speaker 2: Hm. That is just so uncomfortable way of living.
Speaker 1: Hey, Yeah, Now, Mina was so cautious with her relationship
Speaker 1: with Joseph that she actually had a strict rule herself
Speaker 1: with Joseph to keep them safe. She told him not
Speaker 1: to call or text if he ever got a certain
Speaker 1: code word from her. So she's setting up a code
Speaker 1: word like and you you fucking don't talk nothing, yeah, silence, okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because she's basically like, she's afraid that her dad might
Speaker 1: check her phone or find out. And her fears were
Speaker 1: actually they weren't misplaced, because eventually, you see, he found
Speaker 1: a note that Amina had written to Joseph. When confronted
Speaker 1: about it, she was terrified and immediately lied. She said
Speaker 1: that it was part of an imaginary relationship she had
Speaker 1: in her head, like she was dreaming of meeting mister
Speaker 1: wright sort of thing, you know, like all prince charming,
Speaker 1: you know, just dreaming of the day get married, like
Speaker 1: that sort of situation. But you see, her didn't buy it.
Speaker 1: He kept digging, convinced she was hiding something, and he
Speaker 1: confronted her about the boy several times, shouting accusations and
Speaker 1: beating her. But Amina never gave up Joseph's name. The
Speaker 1: thought that you see her might hurt Joseph gave her
Speaker 1: the will to protect him at any car.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, yeah.
Speaker 1: It's your heart fucking broken yet.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, it's just shattering. Like every sentence you read.
Speaker 1: I know, right, it gets like worse and worse, I
Speaker 1: swear hm. So eventually things took a turn for the
Speaker 1: worse when you see her suddenly move the family to
Speaker 1: a new house in Louisville. Now this is still within Texas.
Speaker 1: It's about twenty miles from where they've been living.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: It was a clear attempt to separate Emina from whoever
Speaker 1: this boy was that you know, he's trying to find out,
Speaker 1: but she's not giving up the name, and he's trying
Speaker 1: to basically just continue to control her life since he
Speaker 1: couldn't find out the relationship He's like, fine, fuck you,
Speaker 1: we're just moving.
Speaker 2: I'm breaking that relationships, uprooting the whole family.
Speaker 1: Yeah. For Emina, this was the last straw. She started
Speaker 1: making plans to run away with Joseph and get married
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas, picturing a life far from this control
Speaker 1: over this tyrant of a father.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure it also affected Joseph too, right, Like,
Speaker 2: oh definitely, I'm sure he was so worried about her,
Speaker 2: one hundred percent. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now, Joseph was fully on board and fully committed to this.
Speaker 1: He even dropped out of high school so he could
Speaker 1: go get a job, work and save money to help
Speaker 1: fund their escape to go start a new life. I
Speaker 1: Meana knew the risks that they were taking, and Joseph
Speaker 1: by now was fully aware of what you see her
Speaker 1: was capable of as well, because when they first started dating,
Speaker 1: just like she would be telling friends, Amina and Sarah
Speaker 1: be telling friends just that tip of the iceberg, that
Speaker 1: water down version of some things. Right by now, I'm
Speaker 1: sure he was fully aware of all of it, and
Speaker 1: he wasn't getting the water down story. I mean it
Speaker 1: even confided in him that you see her regularly threatened
Speaker 1: to kill her, and she fully believed that he was serious.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, okay, jeez, yeah, take.
Speaker 1: That in case.
Speaker 2: I know, it's just so hard to even know what
Speaker 2: to say because it's so I don't know, it's so unbelievable. Really,
Speaker 2: it's hard to, you know, even believe that someone's was
Speaker 2: doing this to their own kids.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, it's kind of wild.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now, in late December of two thousand and seven, after Christmas,
Speaker 1: Tissy made a desperate attempt to break free from Yasser's control.
Speaker 1: Together with her two daughters, they all fled to Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: trying to seek refuge with relatives of Amina's boyfriend. So
Speaker 1: this is before they could actually have their plan put
Speaker 1: into place to go run off to Vegas. You know,
Speaker 1: this is occurring before, prior to yeah, before it could
Speaker 1: ever happen. Now, for a brief moment, it seemed like
Speaker 1: they might finally be safe from this man's grip of
Speaker 1: fucking horror. I don't know how else to describe it, honestly,
Speaker 1: and Tissy had managed to get them away from this
Speaker 1: presence and it was like a fresh start finally. However,
Speaker 1: the days went by, Tissy's resolve started to waiver. Y
Speaker 1: see her. Bombarded her phone with calls, some made by him,
Speaker 1: some may by others, extended family members whatever. They were
Speaker 1: just trying to wear her down, come back like all
Speaker 1: these sort of things. Where are you? She was? It
Speaker 1: was relentless. They would not leave her alone, so she
Speaker 1: initially ignored them. The pressure built until Tissy finally gave
Speaker 1: in on December thirty. First, she told her daughters they
Speaker 1: needed to make a stop in East Texas, claiming it
Speaker 1: was to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of
Speaker 1: her death, but the story was made up. She actually
Speaker 1: intended to return with their daughters to Yasir Oh.
Speaker 2: No, hey, they completely wore her down yeap.
Speaker 1: When Tissy broke the news of where they're actually going
Speaker 1: to be going, Sarah, who always leaned on her mother's guidance,
Speaker 1: reluctantly agreed to go back. But Amina, however, was adamant
Speaker 1: that she would not return to her father's house, you know,
Speaker 1: fearful of what going back would actually mean, So she
Speaker 1: hit at that friend's home, hoping to stay there. But
Speaker 1: Patricia was determined to reunite the family, and she drove
Speaker 1: to this friend's house and banged them the door until
Speaker 1: she was let inside. An argument erupted as Tizzy insisted
Speaker 1: that Amina return with her. Inspite Amina's protest and refusal
Speaker 1: to go, Tizzy stood her ground, repeating that you see
Speaker 1: her had forgiven her and wanted them all home.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure that's probably what he had said, exactly right,
Speaker 2: but it's not true.
Speaker 1: No, it's definitely not it's forgiven. I'm sorry he's playing
Speaker 1: that card, he's playing them.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, he just totally broke her down, basically.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so all in all, he broke Tizzy down. Sarah
Speaker 1: was going along with whatever Tissy was doing because she
Speaker 1: trusted her mother.
Speaker 2: When she was the younger one, right, she was the younger.
Speaker 1: One by a year, And you know what, the pressure
Speaker 1: from Tizzy eventually left Amina with little choice and she decided, fine,
Speaker 1: she'll go back as well.
Speaker 2: Well, I remember too, at one point you said she
Speaker 2: liked to protect her sister, right, so that would probably
Speaker 2: like weigh on her heavily as well, most likely.
Speaker 1: And it's not like your mom is terrible or anything.
Speaker 1: She's probably wanted to protect your mum and all three
Speaker 1: years together that they're probably the safest, right, What would
Speaker 1: happen to them if they returned without her.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh dang.
Speaker 1: So the decision to return the family together and be
Speaker 1: back with you sere would ultimately prove very tragic, as
Speaker 1: the next day, on January first, two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: Amina and Sarah would find themselves at the mercy of
Speaker 1: their father's wrath as he snapped. And that's the end
Speaker 1: of part one.
Speaker 2: Of course, it is, of course it is, of course
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking the actual crime itself. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of crimes that already occurred, don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong, but the yeah, the murder of Amina and Sarah.
Speaker 1: We'll be talking about that in part two.
Speaker 2: Okay. And they had a brother, right, they did, Okay,
Speaker 2: but like the dad or whatever just wasn't really concerned
Speaker 2: about the brother.
Speaker 1: There's pretty much nothing about him in this story really.
Speaker 1: I mean, there is a little bit later on which
Speaker 1: I'll touch on, but as far as how this all
Speaker 1: unfolded with him, I have no clue.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, i mean I'm sure that the father treated
Speaker 2: him differently, like on the gender basis.
Speaker 1: He definitely did, one hundred percent, that is a fact.
Speaker 2: I know that.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, gosh, I just hate that. I know was the
Speaker 2: brother the old was rather oldest.
Speaker 1: He was the oldest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, that's what I figured.
Speaker 1: Okay, they're all like separated by just.
Speaker 2: Like a year or whatever. Yeah, yeah, okay, Well, I
Speaker 2: mean the silver lining is that we don't have to
Speaker 2: wait as long as usual.
Speaker 1: I don't know if we can say that anymore.
Speaker 2: Can we? I think we still can. I'm saying it.
Speaker 1: You're saying it.
Speaker 2: You only have to wait like what a few days Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Speaker 2: and then Tuesday it's out. So that's not bad.
Speaker 1: We can do that, can we?
Speaker 2: We can do that?
Speaker 1: Can you? Are you going to be asking me questions
Speaker 1: as soon as the mics are off? Probably I'm not answering. Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: we will talk to you guys then and we will
Speaker 1: finish up this story. Sorry, trust me, it gets I
Speaker 1: don't know how to describe it.
Speaker 2: I think the story all messed up.
Speaker 1: The story sucks. It really sucks. Okay hmm, So yeah,
Speaker 1: well we'll see it on Tuesday. For the remainder of
Speaker 1: this if you want to check out any of our
Speaker 1: social links or any of our information, it's all in
Speaker 1: the description of this podcast. We are an indie podcast.
Speaker 1: Produced by myself and my wife Nicole. Right here, it's us.
Speaker 1: We do all the work and there's no one else
Speaker 1: but us because we are that awesome. Yeah, so all
Speaker 1: the support means the world to us. Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you on Tuesday, but until then,
Speaker 1: Until then, stay wicked.