My father murdered my mother in his shed – now I want him to tell me where he hid her body
- Laura May Al Shatanawi was murdered by her husband Hassan in Hartlepool in 1993
- Their son Rasheed begs his father to reveal where his body is buried
A man whose mother was brutally murdered by his father 30 years ago has begged the killer to reveal where he dumped his 35-year-old victim’s remains.
Laura May Al Shatanawi was murdered by her Jordanian-born husband Hassan in Hartlepool. He was jailed for life in October 1994, but never revealed where he had disposed of his remains.
Today his son, Rasheed Vaughan, speaking publicly for the first time about his ordeal, said: “I love my mother so much and I will never stop trying to find her. My mother would have loved to meet my son and watch me grow up. We wish that wasn’t the case, but we would like nothing more than to be able to put my mother to rest.
He said Teesside live: ‘I have a lot of good memories of being a mama’s kid. I remember going on holiday with her, we went to Rhodes – me and my mum, my aunt and uncle – I remember taking trips to Scarborough. I have so many beautiful memories. I was told she lived life to the fullest.
Richard Vaughan, pictured at his mother’s grave, begs his father Hassan to reveal where he dumped her body after her murder in June 1993.
Laura Al Shatanawi, pictured, was murdered by her husband Hassan who dumped her body. Police found DNA evidence linking him to the crime in his shed, although there had been no sign of his body in the past 30 years.
Mr Vaughan, pictured, was just seven years old when his mother was murdered by his father.
The 37-year-old father-of-one was seven when his mother went missing. Initially, Shatanawi claimed his wife – who was studying tourism at Hartlepool – had taken a holiday to Turkey.
The couple married in Egypt in 1985 and moved to England in 1985.
Shatanawi reported his wife missing three weeks after his wife disappeared. Police quickly became suspicious and arrested Mr Vaughan’s father.
Before murdering his wife, the killer had rented land and paid a worker £10 to burn down his shed.
The worker sold the shed to a friend and when police appealed for witnesses, the worker passed on details about the shed which contained vital forensic evidence which led to Shatanawi’s conviction.
A court heard he murdered his wife to move in with his mistress and their five-year-old son.
Mr Vaughan said he saw his father while he was on remand but had never spoken to him since.
He added: “Since he was deported, I have been trying to locate him because if he has to tell anyone where my mother’s body is, it would be me. I always wonder where could she be. We could never give him a place to rest.
Hassan Al Shatanawi, pictured, a Jordanian doctor, was deported after serving his life sentence for the murder of his wife, Laura.
