Explore documented criminal cases from the United Arab Emirates with clear legal-status labeling, source-backed chronology and a victim-aware editorial approach. Arrests and allegations are never treated as convictions.
A case appears under Solved / Adjudicated only when the available record supports a sufficiently definitive investigative or legal outcome. Open investigations, unresolved responsibility, acquittals that leave the underlying crime unresolved, or materially incomplete proceedings belong under Unsolved / Partial.
Four-month-old Malak died in Abu Dhabi in April 2013 after an Indonesian domestic worker attacked her while a nanny was briefly away. The worker, identified in court reporting as S.T., was convicted of premeditated murder and her death sentence was upheld on final cassation review in 2015.
Open case file →Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya were killed during a planned burglary at their Dubai home in 2020, and their elder daughter survived an attack. Dubai's highest court upheld the convicted intruder's death sentence in 2023.
Open case file →Eleven-year-old Azan Majid Janjua was killed in Abu Dhabi in 2017. Mohsen Bilal was convicted, and the Court of Cassation upheld the death sentence in December 2018.
Open case file →Elena Babej was killed in Dubai in 1998. Three defendants were convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; later early-release decisions did not erase the convictions.
Open case file →A Pakistani taxi driver killed his cousin in their shared Hor Al Anz accommodation in 2019. An initial 10-year sentence was revisited after cassation review, and a retrial resulted in life imprisonment followed by deportation.
Open case file →Anil Akari was killed during his birthday gathering in Dubai in December 2013. A friend identified in court reporting as S.J. was convicted of premeditated murder, and Dubai's Court of Cassation upheld the 15-year sentence in 2015.
Open case file →An Uzbek woman identified in court reporting as M.H. was murdered in Dubai in 2010. Ahmedullah Nazar and Ismael Haji were convicted of premeditated murder, and Dubai's Court of Cassation upheld their death sentences in 2012.
Open case file →Thirteen-year-old Ali Mohammed Hassan was killed outside his home in Rashidiya, Dubai, in March 2010. Five Emirati juveniles were convicted; after a cassation-ordered retrial, the principal 10-year and five-year prison terms were upheld.
Open case file →A 25-year-old Emirati identified in court reporting as Adnan was killed in a planned group attack in Al Warqa, Dubai, in March 2015. Four defendants ultimately received life sentences upheld by the Court of Cassation; a fifth received a three-year term.
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American teacher Ibolya Ryan was murdered at an Abu Dhabi shopping mall on December 1, 2014. Ala'a Bader Abdullah al-Hashemi was convicted by the Federal Supreme Court in 2015 and the sentence was carried out that July.
Open case file →South African events executive Kerry Winter disappeared in Dubai in August 2008. Mark Arnold was convicted of her murder despite her body never being recovered, and Dubai's Court of Cassation upheld his life sentence in 2011.
Open case file →Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim was murdered in Dubai in July 2008. Egyptian courts convicted Mohsen al-Sukkari of killing her and Hisham Talaat Moustafa of arranging the murder; later pardons affected punishment, not the convictions themselves.
Open case file →Eight-year-old Obaida Al Aqrabawi was abducted in Sharjah and murdered in Dubai in May 2016. Nidal Eisa Abdullah was convicted, lost his final appeal and was executed in November 2017.
Open case file →Eight-year-old Wadeema was killed after prolonged abuse in Dubai in 2012. Her father Hamad Al Shirawi and his partner Al Onoud Al Ameri ultimately received final life sentences after the Dubai Court of Cassation rejected further appeals in 2013.
Open case file →Four-year-old Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed was murdered in a mosque in Al Qusais, Dubai, during Eid al Adha in November 2009. Rashid al Rashidi was convicted, lost his final appeal in June 2010 and was executed in February 2011.
Open case file →Dubai finance manager Shankari Maran was killed in his Karama apartment in July 2011 after a dispute involving a former driver's claimed unpaid salary. Nawas Mohammad was convicted, and Dubai's Court of Cassation ultimately upheld a life sentence in 2013.
Open case file →Uzbek businessman Mohammad Haidarov was killed after being lured to a remote area near Jebel Ali in a robbery scheme. Three men were convicted; Dubai's Court of Cassation confirmed the sentence of the only defendant reported to have appealed that far.
Open case file →Filipina mother Emma Angos Cambalon was found dead in Dubai in March 2010 after investigators initially struggled to identify her. Her boyfriend was convicted of murder, and the Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a 15-year sentence in May 2011.
Open case file →Ehsan Rida was murdered in Dubai in 2009. A former employee identified as M.R.S. was convicted in absentia in 2014 while still at large; the public appellate and custody record remains incomplete.
Open case file →Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in a Dubai hotel in January 2010. Dubai Police identified an international team of suspects and sought arrests, but no criminal trial established final responsibility.
Open case file →A Pink Panther crew rammed stolen cars into Dubai's Wafi Mall in April 2007 and stole jewellery from Graff. Property was recovered and multiple suspects were prosecuted, but not every alleged participant was finally adjudicated.
Open case file →Zvi Kogan was kidnapped and murdered in the UAE in November 2024. Three defendants received death sentences and a fourth life imprisonment in March 2025; the official ruling stated that the capital sentences were automatically referred for Federal Supreme Court review.
Open case file →Chechen commander Sulim Yamadayev was shot dead in the car park of his Dubai residence in March 2009. Two men were convicted of aiding the assassination, but the alleged wider chain of responsibility was never fully adjudicated in the UAE.
Open case file →Ayyoub Abdul Rida was killed during a mass prison-gang attack in Dubai Central Prison in August 2012. Eighteen inmates were prosecuted for murder, but their acquittals were upheld on appeal and cassation, leaving the killing without a convicted perpetrator.
Open case file →Case files prioritize court or government records where available, then established journalism and other reputable institutional sources. Key dates, legal outcomes and current status are cross-checked before publication.
Crime by Region avoids graphic detail unless essential to understanding the case. The purpose of a case file is to document what happened, how authorities responded and what the verified legal status became.