Prosecutors: Man Charged In Wife's Slaying In Boonton Wanted Others Dead
BOONTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A murder shocked the quiet community of Boonton, N.J. nearly three years ago, and prosecutors this week said the husband wanted three other people killed.
As CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported, Kashif Parvaiz is charged with the murder of his wife, Nazish Noorani, in August 2011. The two were walking with their son on a Boonton street when Noorani was shot and killed.
Parvaiz initially told police they were targeted by three men in a bias attack, but later admitted to police that he hired a friend to kill his wife. Antoinette Stephen – the woman he allegedly paid to shoot his wife – pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy and weapons charges in the case last May and agreed to cooperate against Parvaiz.
And now, new evidence has emerged in the case and Parvaiz was in court Monday afternoon to answer the allegations.
Parvaiz sat shackled in court reviewing the case against him, with his brother and father behind hi, as he faced the latest charges.
Prosecutors said Parvaiz wrote a letter while in jail back in 2012, saying he wanted an ex-girlfriend killed because she was going to testify against him.
Prosecutors claimed Parvaiz also wanted the brothers of his dead wife killed -- all to revise the custody arrangement of Parvaiz's two sons who are living with his wife's family in Boonton.
Parvaiz pleaded not guilty to the new charges, and his attorney says they came as a shock.
"My defendant and his family are shocked and outraged by allegations," said defense attorney John Bruno. "We'll look at evidence, look at it, analyze it and we'll be in a better position to comment."
In the initial charges in the case, police said Parvaiz and Stephen teamed up to get Noorani out of the picture and said they found incriminating text messages between the two leading up to the murder.
"You hang in there. Freedom is just around ur (sic) corner," read a text message prosecutors said Parvaiz received from Stephen.
Authorities said Stephen also wounded Parvaiz to make it look a random racial attack. The child was not hurt.
As of Monday night, Parvaiz was back in jail on $3 million bond, facing new charges that include 21 counts of witness tampering and three counts of attempted murder.
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