The sentence follows a mandatory review by the Egyptian Grand Mufti.

A 43-year-old Egyptian man has been sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of murdering three men in Doha in April last year.

In the lead-up to the final judgement by a Cairo court, the convicted was reportedly “indifferent” to the trial as he was seen smoking and laughing in the dock before the hearing started, according to local Egyptian reports.

The bodies of the victims – Ali Shabaan and siblings Abdelsalam and Jom’a Mahrous – were discovered by a friend at their residence in Doha last year. The killings followed a botched robbery attempt by the convict, a 43-year-old ceramic tiler.

“I just wanted to steal,” he initially admitted to court in June 2023.

He explained that he was in Qatar for the FIFA 2022 World Cup tournament and decided to stay to search for work opportunities.

The convict added that he befriended the three Egyptian nationals, who welcomed him to their home as he tried to get back on his feet. However, with no prospects in sight, the hosts booked him a return flight to Egypt.

He then devised a plan to steal from them and flee.

“I saw them putting their money in a safe at home. I decided to drug them and steal from them and escape,” he said. 

On the day of the murder, the convict spiked two of the victims’ drinks with a sedative, which had minimal effect. The victims soon woke up to find the convict robbing them.

“They were dizzy and unable to move, so I was able to attack and kill them,” he said.

“After that, their friend walked in and saw them dead, and when he tried to confront me, I stabbed him with a knife.” 

In the aftermath of the crime last year, Doha News reached out to the Qatari government for comment but did not receive a response.

Such crimes are rare in Qatar, which is consistently ranked among the safest countries in the world.

Final defence

Despite the earlier admission of guilt in June 2023, during a hearing in July 2024, the defendant’s lawyer argued that due to poor health, his client was in fact not the perpetrator of the triple homicide.

“My client’s kidney function is only 30%, and he could not have carried out these crimes at all,” the defence alleged.

The defence attorney also highlighted what he referred to as “shortcomings” in the prosecution’s arguments and within the evidence that was collected.

Further deficiencies cited by the defence include allegations of the presence of other fingerprints on the murder weapon and a mismatch between the guilty party’s prints and those found on the weapon.

Egyptian news outlet Al Masry Al Youm reported that Sunday’s final judgement follows the court’s decision in July to refer the case to a senior Islamic legal authority for a Sharia-based opinion on the death penalty.

The convict was seen collapsing in shock upon learning of this development, as such referrals typically indicate a unanimous decision by the judging panel to apply the death sentence.

In Egypt, the Grand Mufti’s religious opinion is necessary before a death sentence can be passed in court.