Fugitive in Slaying Is in Jordan Prison

FBI officials in San Diego verified reports Thursday that Ibrahim T. Mubarak, 39, who apparently fled to Jordan to avoid charges in the slaying of his 5-year-old daughter, has been imprisoned there at least three months.

“In the latter part of November, 1988, we developed information that Mubarak was in custody, in prison in Amman, Jordan,” said Ron Orrantia, spokesman for the FBI in San Diego. “We requested our FBI headquarters to contact Interpol to verify that he was in custody. . . . On Jan. 4, Interpol officially verified it and notified the U. S. district attorney’s office in San Diego.”

Mubarak is wanted on a felony warrant in the Normal Heights killing of Juliana Cathleen Olson, whose decomposed body was found in bed next to her teddy bear March 26, 1988.

Traumatic Injuries

A coroner’s report estimated that the girl died March 14 of traumatic injuries.

Mubarak had lived with his daughter since October, 1987, when he won custody from the girl’s maternal grandmother, Betty Olson. Juliana’s mother, Cathleen Anna Olson, 22, died in 1983 from asphyxiation after ingesting alcohol, codeine and Valium. The couple were married briefly in 1981, but divorced before their daughter was born.

Mubarak disappeared after his daughter’s death, and the district attorney’s office asked the FBI to file a complaint of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution as soon has they had an indication that he had left the country, Orrantia said. FBI officials filed the complaint March 30; Interpol officials tentatively verified Mubarak’s imprisonment Nov. 30. Orrantia said he did not know on what charges Mubarak was being held.

Mubarak was a Palestinian citizen and held a Jordanian passport while in the United States. Deputy Dist. Atty. Harry Elias, who is working on the case, has been trying to contact Jordanian officials for extradition procedures.

No Extradition Treaty

“It’s between the district attorney’s office, the State Department and Jordan,” Orrantia said.

According to a State Department official in Washington, there is no extradition treaty with Jordan.

“The United States requires a treaty in order to extradite fugitives abroad, but some foreign countries do not require the existence of a treaty; some countries have authority under their domestic law in the absence of a treaty,” the official said.