Expert: GPS places man at slaying

In this June 25, 2018 photo, Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, left, sits in court with his defense attorney Rudy Duarte, right, in Houston. Irsan, a 60-year-old Jordanian-American, is charged with capital murder, accused of killing his daughter's husband and her best friend, an Iranian activist.  (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
In this June 25, 2018 photo, Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, left, sits in court with his defense attorney Rudy Duarte, right, in Houston. Irsan, a 60-year-old Jordanian-American, is charged with capital murder, accused of killing his daughter's husband and her best friend, an Iranian activist. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON-A GPS device owned by a Jordanian-born man on trial on a charge of capital murder places him at the same time and place of a 2012 Texas slaying, according to a digital forensic expert's testimony.

Christian Mammarella, an expert in recovering data, testified Thursday before the prosecution rested in Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan's trial, the Houston Chronicle reported. Mammarella said GPS data shows Irsan traveled to the Houston-area home and workplaces of his Christian son-in-law, Coty Beavers, dozens of times before Beavers was shot to death.

Irsan is also accused of killing Iranian women's rights activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh, who encouraged his daughter to marry Beavers.

Irsan's attorneys, Allen Tanner and Rudy Duarte, said GPS presence at a crime scene doesn't prove Irsan was physically there. They argued that no one knows who committed the slayings and that Irsan isn't connected to either of them.

Mammarella said Irsan's GPS was in a car that drove from his family compound in Montgomery County on Nov. 13, 2012, to the apartment complex where his daughter, Nesreen Irsan, had recently moved in with Beavers. The car was tracked to the location around the time Beavers was killed by intruders.

The GPS data also corresponded with many of the dates that Beavers' family cars were vandalized with slashed tires, he said.

Mammarella was among nearly 100 witnesses who testified at the trial, including Irsan's wife, who testified Wednesday as part of a plea bargain to reduce her charges.

Irsan's wife, Shmou Alrawabdeh, told the court that her conservative Muslim husband believed he had to kill Beavers to recover his honor.

Alrawabdeh said she made a deal to plead guilty to a kidnapping charge in exchange for testifying against Irsan. The plea bargain allows Alrawabdeh to be released after receiving credit for the four years she's served in jail while awaiting trial.

Irsan could face the death penalty if he's convicted.

Upcoming Events