Texas cab driver professes innocence in 'honor killing' of his daughters

Yaser Abdel Said on Monday took the stand to defend himself against charges that he murdered his two daughters in a 2008 "honor killing."

Amina and Sarah Said both died of multiple gunshot wounds in 2008, NBC5 reported. Prosecutors played a clip of the 911 call Sarah made before her death identifying her father as the gunman.

Since the killings, speculation has arisen that the girls' deaths were the result of an "honor killing," a cultural practice in which family members kill their relatives over perceived shame their actions bring upon the entire family. One film about the murders, "The Price of Honor," suggested that Said objected to his daughters' "American lifestyle," according to the NBC5. Both reportedly were dating men from different cultural backgrounds.

The girls' bodies were found in Said's cab. Said pleaded not guilty and asserted authorities missed the real killer because they were too busy targeting him.

"If the FBI did their work, they would know, but they were looking for Yaser Said and they did not do what they have to do," he said in Arabic, through a translator. He then addressed why he spent 12 years on the run from law enforcement, despite professing his innocence, saying "I believed behind this coverage there was a secret agenda. And I feel the media was against me in a certain direction, that I would not get a fair trial."

Said faces life in prison should a jury find him guilty.