DAMMAM — An American expatriate has been convicted of murdering his Sri Lankan wife. A source from the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution said the body of the woman was found by workers in a cylinder dumped in a well in Al-Kharj governorate south of the Eastern Province. The workers — who work under the supervision of the American employee — found the decomposed body of the woman in a sitting posture stuffed inside the cylinder, said the source. When the workers reported this to their American supervisor, he told them to burn or bury the body. But the workers refused and insisted on reporting the incident to higher authorities. The American employee reported to officials two hours after the body was found. The workers also said that the woman often used to accompany her husband at work. She disappeared once he was put in charge of the gas exploration operation eight months ago, said the source. When the husband was first questioned about his wife he said she had a tendency to run away. The workers told investigators that their supervisor had ordered them to weld a cylinder shut from one side but leave it open from the other. He then told them to transport the cylinder to his house, place it in a well and bury it only seven inches into the ground. The American employee first denied the workers' account, but later admitted that the body belonged to his wife after DNA tests revealed the truth. But he denied that he killed her. The authorities detained him for further investigation. He then announced his conversion to Islam while he was imprisoned. The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution found 31 concrete pieces of evidence convicting the husband of murdering his wife and obtained direct testimonies by witnesses, said the source. The source also said Riyadh Public Court sentenced the husband to five years in prison for murdering his wife. However, the children of the woman from a previous marriage demanded the death sentence for the American.
