Warning: This story contains graphic content.
A jury has returned a guilty verdict for a man accused of using a claw hammer to bludgeon his pregnant lover to death in her Dayton home 2½ years ago.
Hassan Jabbie, 53, denied he was responsible for taking the life of 36-year-old Janet Dweh, whose distraught family found her body in her bed in October 2021.
A man has been found guilty of the murder of Janet Dweh.
She had been struck in the head 30 times.
Police arrested Jabbie and charged him with her murder after an investigation revealed he was the father of her unborn child and had wanted her to have an abortion. She was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
During a seven-week trial, members of the jury were confronted with horrific evidence pointing to Jabbie’s guilt, including voice messages he sent Dweh, calling her a prostitute and a harlot and telling her to get rid of the baby.
Jabbie was married but had been separated from his wife during his relationship with Dweh.
During the trial the jury were played voice messages Jabbie sent Dweh, calling her a “disgrace to humanity” and telling her she was dirty and nasty.
After his arrest, police planted into his holding cell at the Perth Watch House an undercover officer who asked Jabbie about what he had been charged with.
The court heard Jabbie told the undercover officer he had been charged with murder, and maintained it was a conspiracy against him – but added there was clothing “buried deep” that was incriminating.
The police later found that clothing, along with a claw hammer containing Jabbie’s DNA, buried on a vacant block close to his Ellenbrook home.
CCTV footage showed Jabbie going to Dweh’s house on the day she was killed before he stole the hard drive to her security cameras.
“Jabbie did not want Janet Dweh to give birth to that baby,” state prosecutor Paul Usher told the jury.
“He disclosed to police that he was still technically married ... and that it would look really bad to have a child while still married.”
Jabbie pleaded not guilty to the murder. His lawyer Sean Dworcan told the court the matter was a case of mistaken identity.
“We are going to suggest alternative theories, ones that we say you cannot reasonably discount,” he told the jury.
“We are going to suggest that it’s quite possible someone else killed Janet Dweh.”
Dworcan asked the jury to “keep an open mind” despite the evidence against his client.
But on Thursday they took just 24 hours to unanimously find Jabbie guilty.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
Read more
Perth one of hardest cities in the world to find a rental
Woman who left puppies to suffer in heatwave banned from owning dogs