Crime & Safety

Judge Allows Alleged Tinley Park Wife-Killer Sam to Get Jail Visit From Priest

Alleged wife-killer Bahaa Sam was granted a contact visit with a priest and will be allowed to receive communion.

A Tinley Park man jailed for allegedly bashing his wife's head in with a weightlifting bar was allowed a contact visit with a priest.

Bahaa Sam, 47, was also cleared to receive Holy Communion when he gets his visit from Father Pavlos Fahmy of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Burr Ridge, according to a court order from Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

Sam was arrested and charged with murder in December after a Tinley Park public works employee reportedly spotted the body of Sam's wife, 38-year-old Nermeen Sam, face-down in the grass outside the couple's home. She was covered in blood and a weightlifter's bar was near her body, police said.

Cops called to the scene went inside the Sams' house and ran into the their blood-spattered 4-year-old son. The boy reportedly told the officers, "Daddy killed my mommy."

The Sams have another son and two daughters.

Bahaa Sam had been arrested twice before for allegedly beating his wife. The first time, in 2005, he was found not guilty of domestic battery following a trial in front of Judge Jeff Allen but was convicted of resisting police. The second time, following a June arrest, he pleaded guilty and took a sentence of 12 months court supervision.

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The deadly December attack was prompted by an argument over Bahaa Sam's lack of employment, officials said. During the dispute, Bahaa Sam tried to stop his wife from leaving their home and she bit his finger, a prosecutor said at a previous hearing. Bahaa Sam then allegedly chased her outside and beat her to death with the weightlifter's bar.

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