Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Sins Of The Father: Love Blood & Death’ chronicles the horrifying murder of 20-year-old Noor Almaleki in Peoria, Arizona, in October 2009. The investigators knew the perpetrator from the beginning, though they fled the country after committing the crime. However, they were caught within a week and extradited to the US.
How Did Noor Almaleki Die?
Noor Faleh Almaleki was born to Faleh Hassan Almaleki in Basra, Iraq, on February 18, 1989. She was only four when her family fled a Saddam Hussain-led Iraq. She and her family initially lived in Glendale, Arizona, before shifting to the Paradise Views subdivision of Phoenix. Noor attended Dysart High School in El Mirage. Her father had received his US citizenship, and she had graduated from high school, attending Glendale Community College, by 2009. Like most teens, Noor loved shopping and hanging out with her friends.
Noor’s friends reminisced about her passion for school and her aspirations to be a teacher. Peoria, Arizona, police detective Chris Boughey said, “She was — somebody that wanted to get an education. She was somebody that wanted to be somebody, to do something with her life.” Journalist and CBS News consultant Abigail Pesta recalled, “Noor was an all-American teenage girl. …She called her friends ‘Dude.’ … At school, she played tennis on the tennis team. She — worked on the yearbook.”
Abigail added, “Her friends told me her hair was always perfect. She could always be counted on to have a bottle of hairspray handy. She had a foot in two worlds. She had one foot in suburban America and one foot in Middle Eastern tradition.” Hence, it was shocking when the 20-year-old and her friend, Amal Khalaf, were hit by a car in the government parking lot of the Arizona Department of Economic Security in Peoria on October 20, 2009. Paramedics rushed the two women to a nearby hospital, with Noor in critical condition.
Detective Boughey stated, “Noor’s condition was — was very critical. She…suffered multiple vertebrae fractures, an ankle fracture, a severe closed head injury, and multiple soft tissue injuries from head to toe.” According to hospital authorities, a urinary tract infection spread to Noor’s heart, which proved fatal. Maricopa County medical examiner Dr. Kevin Horn stated that the condition caused her death instead of the direct injuries from the collision. On November 2, 2009, the 20-year-old experienced brain death, and her life support was disconnected.
Who Killed Noor Almaleki?
According to the episode, Noor was forced to obey her parents, and it was her job to cook, clean, and help take care of her six younger siblings at home. Abigail stated, “And if she didn’t, she would be beaten.” Noor’s friend Adhi Dhakal recounted how she had told him about her father disapproving of everything she did — from how she dressed to her choice of friends. Adhi said, “You can’t tell your child, you know, today in America, ‘Oh, you can’t hang out with boys. No, you can’t look — go outside lookin’ like that.’ In her home, tons and tons of rules.”
Abigail added, “In public, she tried to put on a brave face…live her life and enjoy the freedoms America offered. In private, she fought with her father all the time.” Adhi talked about one time Faleh was enraged to see a photo of his daughter with some male friends on the internet — an image that Detective Boughey called “typical of most teens.” Her friend recalled, “When he saw that she was kind of going, you know, her way, you know…they kind of went nuts.” However, a fiercely independent Noor refused to be controlled.
Detective Boughey said, “She’d moved in, moved out, moved in, moved out …was living with different friends.” Yet, her parents consistently tracked her down, with the detective stating there was “almost a constant attempt to get her back in that house.” According to reports, Noor moved into her own apartment in 2009 spring but lost her source of income when her conservative family members turned up at her places of employment and forced her to return to the family house.
Noor moved into the home of Amal Khalaf — another Iraqi American and an old family friend — in June 2009. The latter’s son, Marwan Alebadi, stated his mother and the 20-year-old had “developed a special relationship.” He explained, “They were more than best friends. More than a mom to a daughter. She really loved Noor.” The episode noted Noor fell in love with Marwan, further enraging her conservative parents. Abigail clarified, “Faleh saw that as a real smack in the face. In his mind, Noor wasn’t supposed to be dating anyone.”
Hence, the investigators knew who their main suspect was when a Jeep Cherokee fatally ran over Noor in the state government parking lot. As the 20-year-old college student fought for her life in a coma, the police began a manhunt for Faleh. The doctors performed surgery on her spine while police officers were assigned to guard her. The authorities did not reveal to Noor’s family where she was, fearing that her mother or siblings may try to kill her. Meanwhile, Amal had been thrown 27 feet, fracturing her pelvis and femur, but miraculously she survived.
Faleh Almaleki is Behind Bars Today
According to police sources, Noor’s family helped her father flee abroad, with her mother allegedly picking up a prescription for him at a pharmacy. Cell phone records also showed he remained in touch with the family on two different occasions within minutes of the crime. Still, the family denied knowing of Faleh’s whereabouts. Moreover, court documents showed he had escaped south to Mexico, left his car in Nogales, and boarded a flight to London from Mexico City. The British authorities arrested him while trying to enter the British capital.
Faleh Almaleki was extradited to the States within nine days of the crime and was charged with aggravated assault. During a police interview, he confessed to hitting Noor and Amal but claimed he lost control of his vehicle and termed it “kind of an accident.” Nevertheless, Faleh was charged with murder after his daughter died on November 2. During his January 2011 trial, his defense counsel also stated the same, while the prosecution provided various evidence — including tire marks and damage to the vehicle — to prove he hit them deliberately at almost 30 miles an hour.
Despite the prosecution’s attempt to get a first-degree murder conviction, Faleh was convicted of second-degree murder on February 22, 2011, since the jury did not find that the act was premeditated. He was sentenced on multiple counts in April 2011 — 16 years for second-degree murder, 15 years for injuring Amal, and three and one-half years for leaving a crime scene without permission. The 61-year-old is serving a total of 34 and one-half years in prison at the ASPC-Lewis in Buckeye, Arizona. His projected release date is in 2039.
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