A Pennsylvania dad will spend the rest of his life in prison after brutally killing his daughter and dumping her body in a Staten Island park.
In October 2019, a jury of his peers found Kabary Salem, 57, guilty of one count of first-degree murder for fatally strangling and beating Ola Salem, 25, in Palmyra, a small town about 92 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bradford Charles sentenced the defendant to life in prison without the possibility of release.
“A father is supposed to love and protect his child, but this defendant committed one of the cruelest acts imaginable—he murdered his daughter in cold blood,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement. “There is only one appropriate punishment for such a horrific crime. This life sentence will not bring Ola back, but it does provide a measure of justice and accountability for the criminal.”
On October 24, 2019, Ola Salem’s body was discovered partially covered in branches and leaves at Bloomingdale Park. The medical examiner ruled that she died from asphyxiation and had undergone blunt force trauma, as demonstrated by bruises on her face, neck, and legs.
Kabary Salem was previously an Olympic boxer who represented Egypt in international competition. His son followed in his footsteps, and Ola Salem briefly tried boxing. Instead, she has dedicated her life to campaigning for domestic abuse victims.
“She was very, very strong,” a friend told The New York Times following her death. “It beats me how — if this was a murder — how any one could have killed her, because she was stronger than some men.”
In December 2020, the woman’s father was charged with her murder.
During Kabary Salem’s trial last month, prosecutors relied largely on surveillance footage and GPS data, according to a courtroom report from York-based Fox station WPMT. On the night in question, the now-convicted guy was driving a rental car.
First, the defendant went to his own restaurant, then to a nearby hotel. When the automobile arrived at the hotel, surveillance footage revealed that there were two people inside. Then, Kabary Salem went to a Lowe’s home improvement store, ostensibly alone, to purchase a blue Kobalt shovel.
At 10:45 p.m. same night, the defendant returned to the motel alone. According to a courtroom report published by the Lebanon Daily News, the vehicle was on the move by 2:15 a.m. the next morning and arrived to the park about 4:40 a.m. At 4:59 a.m. that day, Kabary Salem was on his way back to Palmyra from Staten Island, having stopped at a Wawa outside New York City, according to CCTV footage.
The killer returned the vehicle to New Jersey Avis Car Rental around 3:52 p.m. that day. Hours later, he met with the NYPD for a voluntary interview. Days later, he fled the nation and did not return. A year later, he was discovered in Kuwait and extradited back to the United States.
There was physical proof as well.
According to prosecutors, Ola Salem battled for her life to the end, when she realized her father was killing her. During the tussle, however, Kabary Salem’s DNA was discovered beneath his daughter’s fingernails.
Then, on the same day as the horrific discovery, a Staten Island resident discovered a blue Kobalt shovel in a cul-de-sac about 100 yards from where Ola Salem’s body had been discovered.
According to the Daily News, Kabary Salem maintained his innocence throughout his sentence hearing this week. Through tears, the convicted murderer said police had misled about his case.
“I say the truth,” he informed the judge.
The judge was not interested in such an allocution.
“The circumstantial evidence in this case was overwhelming, and the truth that you now have to confront is that a jury found that you committed first-degree murder,” Charles told reporters. “That is the truth.” That is what the jury determined, and there was more than enough evidence to support that conclusion.”
