Saudi faces execution in maid killings

A Saudi Arabian man has been sentenced to death after being convicted of raping and murdering three housemaids, then burying their bodies. The man, identified only as Awdhah, was sentenced to death by a Saudi Arabian sharia court on charges of luring, raping and killing housemaids, the newspaper al-Hayat reported. The newspaper said he is appealing the verdict. He confessed to the first murder two years ago in Yanbu and reportedly knew the victim, an Asian woman, authorities said. He picked her up in Yanbu in his car, took her to a guest home he owned and sexually attacked and abused her, then beat her and suffocated her with a pillow and buried her body in a sandy area, authorities said. The man, authorities said, took his second victim to an isolated location, where he raped, killed and buried her. Authorities said the third victim was an Asian housemaid the man enticed to return to his home with him and attempted to rape while his wife and children were home. He stabbed her to death and buried her in remote location, authorities said. Published reports did not specify the method of execution.