Jury finds brother of Texas murder suspect Yaser Said guilty of hiding him for years

A federal jury on Thursday found the brother of capital murder suspect Yaser Said guilty of hiding him from authorities for years.

The jury of seven men and five women found Yassein Said guilty of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, concealing a person from arrest and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Earlier in the week, a defense attorney for Yassein Said told jurors that his client hated his brother for “what he did to the girls” and would never have helped to hide him.

Yaser Said is accused of shooting to death his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah, in his taxi in Irving on Jan. 1, 2008, and then leaving their bodies in the car.

Yaser Said was then on the run for 12 years before he was captured in a Justin home owned by Yassein Said’s daughter.

Yassein Said is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, when he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Last month, Islam Said, 32, of Irving, the son of Yaser Said, pleaded guilty to to 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.

Islam Said is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, when he also faces a maximum of 30 years in a federal prison.

For years, federal authorities say, Yassein and Islam Said helped conceal their relative, who had been on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list, from capture.

During the investigation on Yassein Said, FBI agents used witness interviews, review of email accounts, vehicle rental records, travel records, social media accounts, wireless telephone records and surveillance.

After the 2008 killing, Patricia Owens, Yaser Said’s former wife, told FBI agents that Yassein Said made statements to her indicating he had little remorse for the victims, but indicated support, justification or approval for Yaser Said’s actions.

The killings of the Said sisters drew national attention when some family members said that the girls were victims of an “honor killing” because their father thought they had brought shame to the family.

Authorities have declined to comment on a motive.

Federal authorities believe Yassein Said harbored his brother from at least Aug. 1, 2017, until Aug. 26, 2020, when Yaser Said was arrested in Justin.

It was in 2017 when investigators got a break when a maintenance worker at the Copper Canyon Apartments in Bedford spotted Yaser Said in an apartment rented by Islam Said, federal agents said.

FBI agents had told apartment officials before that encounter that Islam Said was renting an apartment there and that he was the son of a wanted fugitive.

After the sighting, on Aug. 14, 2017, an FBI agent tried to interview Islam Said, wanting to ask him who was inside the Bedford apartment and get consent to search it. Islam Said refused to cooperate and called his attorney. Later, authorities discovered that Islam Said called someone and told them, “we have a big problem,” according to a federal criminal complaint.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for the apartment and executed it on Aug. 15, 2017, but they didn’t find anyone. Investigators collected a Pall Mall cigarette butt from a trash can, a pair of eyeglasses, and a toothbrush found in a luggage bag inside a closet.

A few days after the Bedford apartment was searched, Yassein Said and another man showed up at the leasing office, demanding to know who saw someone in Islam Said’s apartment, according to the complaint.

Months later, test results on DNA collected from the apartment indicated that Yaser Said had been there.

In August 2020, authorities discovered that two homes were in the name of Dalal Said, one of Yassein Said’s daughters. One home was in Justin and the other in Euless. Authorities already knew that the Euless residence was the primary home of Islam Said.

Federal authorities began physical surveillance at both homes.

FBI agents said they saw Islam Said and Yassein Said carry about five grocery bags into the Justin home.

On Aug. 26, 2020, authorities captured Yaser Said in the Justin home.

Yaser Said is awaiting his capital murder trial in Dallas County.