JEDDAH, 13 January 2008 — A 34-year-old Saudi man was arrested in the early hours of Friday a couple of hours after he bludgeoned his 42-year-old wife with a drinking glass in front of her three children from a previous marriage.

After police arrived at the couple’s apartment just after 2 a.m., they found the woman covered in blood. She had received multiple injuries to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The husband, who had fled the home by the time police came, was later arrested at an apartment in north Jeddah. The man was apparently preparing to leave the Kingdom. Police located him using mobile phone tracking technology.

According to police, the couple had an argument and the woman asked her husband not to shout at her in front of the children. The argument led to the man attacking his wife, inflicting injuries to her head.

Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Ghamdi, director of Jeddah Police, arrived at the location with a team of forensic experts, which found the glass the man used to bludgeon his wife.

When arrested the man was said to be hysterical and nervous, and police were unable to properly question him. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and will be questioned later.

According to the caretaker of the building where the couple lived, neighbors were not happy that the man living in the building and several people complained that he owed them money.

“He took SR2,000 from me and didn’t give it back,” said the caretaker. The woman’s relatives also said that they were concerned at her marrying the man, who was of a suspicious character.

They alleged that he was only after the wealth the woman had inherited from her first husband.