Woman who allegedly conspired with lover to kill her husband in US to be extradited from S’pore

The woman wanted to cash out on her husband's life insurance policy.

Hannah Martens | January 17, 2023, 07:04 PM

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A woman who was wanted in the U.S. for allegedly conspiring to murder her husband with her lover is pending to be extradited from Singapore.

Fadaak Sahar Osama A, a Saudi Arabian national, was apprehended on Sep. 25, 2022, in Singapore. She was remanded pending the formal request for her extradition, according to the judgement released on Jan. 17, 2023.

A Warrant of Apprehension for Fadaak was issued on Sep. 24, 2022, by a Magistrate, and a team of police officers from the Singapore Police Force arrested Fadaak at Park Royal Hotel on Beach Road the next day.

After the arrest, the U.S. submitted a formal extradition request on Nov. 22, 2022.

Fadaak is wanted in the U.S. for two charges, murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, against Darwin Garcia Franco, her husband.

Franco was stabbed at least 30 times to death on May. 31, 2019, in his residence, which he shared with Fadaak.

On Nov. 22 2022, the U.S. submitted the formal extradition request. Fadaak was presented before the district court on Dec. 21, 2022, and evidence produced by the state supported the request for the surrender of Fadaak to the U.S.

Conspired with her lover to murder her husband

According to the judgement, Fadaak was accused of murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.

Fadaak conspired with her lover, Saif Al Obaidi, to murder Franco and cash in the victim's life insurance policy.

Between Jan. and May 2019, Fadaak and Saif developed a close personal relationship, and investigations revealed that the pair began a romantic relationship, said the judgement.

On May 22, 2019, Fadaak looked for life insurance that would give her the maximum payout in the event of her husband's death and insisted that she needed insurance on Franco's life immediately.

Fadaak submitted a claim for a policy with a US$250,000 life benefit on May 28, 2019. She listed her and the child she had with Franco as the beneficiaries in the event of Franco's death.

Fadaak enquired about a life insurance policy on Franco's life despite her telling investigators that she was planning to leave Franco during an unrelated investigation with Child Protective Services.

On May 31, 2019, Saif entered Franco's residence and stabbed him 30 times, which caused his death.

At that time, Fadaak and Franco had a woman and three children renting out the lower floor of their residence. The woman, Nelida Zuniga, heard the sounds of the attack and went to investigate. She witnessed Saif's attack on Franco and tried to intervene. However, Saif turned to attack Zuniga and stabbed her 18 times. She ultimately escaped and survived the attack.

When interviewed by investigators, Zuniga said Fadaak watched the whole attack and stood quietly by, making no effort to stop Saif from stabbing Franco.

Fadaak called the police at 2:10 am after the attack and claimed someone had come into her residence, and an altercation ensued. However, when asked if Fadaak recognised the attacker, she omitted Saif's presence at the scene and only said she saw her husband covered in blood and Zuniga.

Multiple call logs were discovered that were not present on Fadaak's phone when initially presented to investigators. This led the investigators to believe she had deleted her call logs with Saif before the police interview.

It was later established several calls were placed to the insurance companies by Fadaak on May 30, 2019.

Saif was arrested on May 31, 2019 at 8:00 am in the morning and was subsequently charged with the murder of Franco in the first-degree and attempted first-degree murder.

Fadaak boarded a one-way flight to the United Arab Emirates with her child on Apr. 9, 2019.

"Investigators believed that the evidence showed the conspiracy and murder was motivated in whole or in part, by financial gain and a romantic relationship between Fadaak and [Saif]," said the judgement.

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