Muzammil hassan beheads wife

In the months leading up to his trial, Hassan had explored various versions of a psychiatric defense with different attorneys, who said they would pursue an acquittal by showing the killing was justified. But prosecutors said it was clear Hassan was a master manipulator who sought to control every aspect of his wife's life, especially after she'd filed for divorce and put his reputation at risk.

Immediately after the wife's death, the manner in which she died prompted speculation her death was an honor killing. The practice is still accepted among some fanatical Muslim men, including in the couple's native Pakistan, who feel betrayed by their wives. Attorney Nadia Shahram, who lectures on the effects of religion and culture on family law at the University at Buffalo, said Monday she believed "this was more than a domestic-violence homicide.

Shahram, who was in the courtroom for closing arguments, said several factors led her to believe the death was "a mix of domestic violence and honor killing," including the separation of the victim's head from her body. Hassan fired three of his lawyers and replaced a fourth with himself. He kept the fourth lawyer as an adviser, as required by law.

He faces up to 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced March 9. More from CBS News. Chrome Safari Continue. The founder of a US Muslim TV network has been charged over the beheading of his wife, media reports say. Muzzammil Hassan, 44, is accused of second degree murder of Aasiya Hassan, whose body was found last week at the TV station in New York state.

Authorities said Mrs Hassan, 37, had recently filed for divorce. The couple had two children, aged four and six. Bridges TV, a satellite-distributed news and opinion channel, was founded by Mr Hassan in and was based in a suburb in Buffalo, in upstate New York. Mrs Hassan had filed for divorce after enduring previous incidents of domestic violence, her lawyer told the Buffalo News.

Muzammil hassan beheads wife: Muzzammil Hassan, a western New York

In a statement on its website, Bridges TV said it was "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Zubair Hassan and subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan". A family court hearing was due to address the future of the couple's two children. Inhis wife Aasiya prompted him to develop "an American Muslim media where her kids could grow up feeling really strong about their identity as an American Muslim.

In FebruaryHassan was arrested and charged with beheading his estranged wife Aasiya Zubair. Her body was found at the TV station. They were most recently called to the residence February 6,the day Hassan was served with divorce papers and an order of protection[ 14 ] where it is reported he was banging on doors and even broke a window. I felt safe and secure with them.

The divorce petition cited "violence and inhuman treatment" as the reason. Police reports indicated that Zubair stated her husband's abusive and controlling behavior had begun at least six years earlier. Sources claimed to be close to the case said hunting knives were used to commit the crime.

Muzammil hassan beheads wife: A jury found Pakistan-born

Prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable said Hassan, who is stocky and over 6 feet tall, bought two hunting knives less than an hour before the attack, then parked his SUV out of view at the station, and hid in wait inside the station to await his wife. When Hassan's wife walked through the door, he stabbed her more than 40 times in the face, back, chest, and decapitated her, some of which was caught on surveillance video.

Their 4- and 6-year-old children, plus a teenage son from one of his two previous marriages, were left buckled into car seats outside in a van during the murder. Hassan, who dismissed four defense attorneys and acted as his own lawyer during the trial, used his two-hour closing remarks telling the jury how he was a slave to his wife's rages. However, Hassan never produced any witnesses or evidence to substantiate his abuse claims, while prosecutors cited numerous police reports filed by his wife and her medical records which testified to her being the battered spouse.

The New York state jury convicted Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan of second-degree murder after an hour of deliberation. Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita said the sentence was the maximum amount that could be imposed under state law, and that Hassan will not be "eligible to talk to the parole board" for 25 years. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim.

We request that their right to privacy be respected. Hassan, who had been active at the center's mosque.

Muzammil hassan beheads wife: Jury rejects Muzzammil Hassan's claim that

The victim's sister, year-old Asma Firfirey of the vicinity of Cape Town, South Africasaid she and her husband Amier talked to Aasiya Hassan the day of the murder. According to Asma Firfirey, she heard her sister tell Muzzammil Hassan to "calm down" and that they "could talk the following day about the divorce". According to Asma and her husband, they described hearing what sounded like her sister struggling to breathe before the telephone connection ended.

Asma Firfirey has said that Hassan, whom she calls "the fat man with the evil eyes," will be more dangerous when he is released on bail. Khalid Qazipresident of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York and a friend of the couple, said that Hassan "was worried about the station's future" and added " Domestic violence is despicable, and Islam condones it in no way whatever.

People said the first marriage failed because the girl was American, the second marriage failed because the girl wasn't patient enough and then, look, the third wife is happy. Everything is OK. The community is an accomplice in the story of Muzzammil Hassan. Conversely, Marcia PappasNew York State president of the National Organization for Women opined "This was apparently a terroristic version of honor killinga murder rooted in cultural notions about women's subordination to men.

Although the crime was quickly decried by Muslim groups, many talk shows and blogs used the horror of Muzzammil's act to indict an entire community -- in a way that they would never have accused the entire Christian religion because a Methodist man murdered his estranged wife in a horrible way. Three weeks ago, a Chinese graduate student at Virginia Tech cut off a female friend's head with a knife.