A federal jury has found the brother of capital murder suspect Yaser Said guilty of helping the "10 Most Wanted" suspect evade capture for more than 12 years, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
After four hours of deliberation, the jury on Thursday found Yassein Abdulfatah Said, Yaser Said's 59-year-old brother, guilty on all counts: one count of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, one count of concealing a person from arrest, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
His co-conspirator, his 32-year-old nephew Islam Said, pleaded guilty to the same charges prior to trial.
"Yassein Said provided cover for his brother, an accused murder, for years, diverting significant law enforcement resources and delaying justice for his nieces. The Northern District of Texas is proud to bring Mr. Said to justice. We hope the verdict brings a measure of comfort for those who loved Sarah and Amina," said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.
"Yassein Said protected his brother and accused murderer, Yaser Said, by providing aid and comfort to him while he was a fugitive. By taking the law into his own hands, Yassein Said delayed justice for the victims, Amina and Sarah, and their family," said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno.
According to evidence presented at trial, Yassein Said sheltered his brother from arrest in an attempt to subvert the administration of justice.
Conspiring with his nephew, Yaser's son Islam, Yassein Said helped harbor Yaser inside an apartment in Bedford, Texas, where a maintenance worker spotted Yaser on Aug. 14, 2017.
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He later harbored his brother inside a home in Justin, Texas. On Aug. 25, 2020 FBI agents observed Yassein Said and his nephew deliver grocery bags to the residence, then followed the men to a shopping center 20 miles away, where they dumped trash retrieved from the home.
Both Yassein and Islam Said now face up to 30 years in federal prison. Sentencing has been set for June 4.
“It's justice that has just begun," said Amina and Sarah's mother Patricia Owens.
Owens, Yaser's ex-wife, said she hasn't talked to her son since shortly after the murders.
She said she thinks about where her girls would be and what they'd be doing if they were still here.
“It’s hard because they were my best friends, and I miss them coming in there and jumping on the bed and saying girl talk. Or just their smiles, their laughs, their, you know, silliness, just everything about them," said Owens.
Yaser Said had been a fugitive from justice since New Year's Day 2008, when he allegedly murdered his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah. According to law enforcement, he shot the girls to death inside his taxicab and abandoned their bodies inside the vehicle. He was captured by the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force in August 2020, and is currently in state custody.
