Ali Mahmood Awad Irsan (Arabic: علي محمود عوض عرسان; born December 27, 1957[1]) is a Jordanian-American convicted murderer held on Texas death row.

He was sentenced for the murders of Iranian-American activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh (Persian: گلاره باقرزاده), a friend of one of his daughters; and his son-in-law, Coty Beavers, in Greater Houston.

[8] When Irsan was 35,[6] he traveled to Jordan[8] and entered into an arranged marriage with a girl,[6] Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh (Arabic: شمو علي الروابدة),[10] who was approximately 15[6] or 16.

To their surprise, Irsan allowed Nadia and Nesreen to enroll in a tertiary institution,[18] a biology program at Lone Star College-Montgomery.

Candace Strang, a professor at Lone Star who taught the women, stated that, as paraphrased by Malislow in a Houston Press article, Nadia and Nesreen "fought hard to convince their father to let them enroll".

Lomi Kriel of the Houston Chronicle wrote that "she was outspokenly critical of Islam, even becoming embroiled in an argument with her father's bosses about their faith.

According to court testimony, Irsan threatened the girls with death if they engaged in romantic relationships, and also stated he would kill their boyfriends if that were ever the case.

[8] The family members holding her captive had discovered e-mails, text messages, and voice mails sent to and from Coty Beavers on Nesreen's communication device.

[8] However, beginning around fall 2011, Irsan began to harass Nesreen, Coty Beavers, and Bagherzadeh, and the group experienced acts of vandalism against their property.

[25] The two moved to a new residence a significant distance away from their previous one;[26] they were at the Legacy Park Apartments in unincorporated northwest Harris County, which would become the site of Beavers' death.

[30] Nesreen and Beavers chose a gated apartment complex, specifically for their protection; they rented a third-floor unit to minimize their possibility of being attacked.

[8] The family received money from the Social Security Administration (SSA), called Supplemental Security Income (SSI), for disabled children, and for adults who are unable to work and do not have resources, but Irsan and his family concealed their resources, while telling the government that, beginning in 1990, he was unable to work due to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

[8] A group of police, with the FBI leading,[10] arrested Irsan, Alrawabdeh, and Nadia on May 22, 2014,[33] accusing them of offenses related to fraud perpetrated against the Social Security system.

[7] On April 3, 2015, Irsan pleaded guilty,[37] to "conspiracy to defraud the United States", while Alrawabdeh and Nadia were convicted of "making false statements".

[8] At 12:30 a.m. a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer stopped the car going 79 miles per hour, above the speed limit, on Interstate 45,[25] while returning to Montgomery County.

[48] Cory Beavers told the news channel KPRC that his brother "said basically if I'm ever killed or murdered it was Ali Irsan.

"[25] Prosecutors of the Harris County government stated that Nesreen's conversion and marrying a Christian man motivated the father to commit the murders.

[51] Devon Anderson, the Harris County district attorney in 2015, stated that Irsan "believed that [Nesreen] and others, including the two victims, had violated his honor as a Muslim.

[52] Harris County district attorney Anderson did not say why the initial charges were dropped with newer ones later filed; Michael Barajas of the Houston Press stated "It appears that decision was purely strategic".

[25] The federal government continued to hold Irsan, Alrawabdeh, and Nadia while Harris County prosecutors announced new criminal charges in 2015.

[53] Nadia Irsan received charges accusing her of stalking her sister, a felony of the third degree; the maximum possible sentence, if convicted, would be 10 years.

[39] Nasim, charged with Bagherzadeh's murder,[8] was arrested on April 22, 2015, and subsequently moved to the Harris County jail;[53] he was 21 at the time.

[8] While Montgomery County authorities stated they were re-investigating the 1999 death of Alidam, they would only file charges on the matter if new evidence was presented.

The normal venue for state felony cases, the Harris County Criminal Courthouse in Downtown, had sustained damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and the post-storm restoration was not yet complete.

[61] In the punishment phase, which lasted two weeks, the jury deliberated between two possible outcomes for a capital murder conviction under Texas law: life without parole or the death penalty.

[13] Nesreen testified that Irsan used severe corporal punishment, and that he praised the September 11, 2001, attacks and suicide bombings while living in the United States.

[63] In November 2019, prosecutors filed a charge of conspiracy to commit murder against Nadia, with the potential sentencing range, if convicted, from 15 years to life imprisonment.

"[45] In 2021, Nadia Irsan agreed to plead guilty to conspiring in a scheme of organized crime, and got ten years of probation as part of "deferred adjudication".

[44] Nesreen suggested that law enforcement allow potential victims of honor killings to change their identities to avoid being tracked down by vengeful family members.

[70] In December of 2022, Netflix had an episode of “I am a Killer” called “A Father’s Shadow” featuring Ali Irsan’s honor murders.