A Boonton Township, NJ man on trial for hiring someone to kill his wife in August 2011 allegedly tried to falsify a similar attack five months earlier.

After Nazish Noorani was killed while walking with her husband, Kashif Parvaiz, on a Boston street, Parvaiz told police that they had been the victims of a hate crime. Parvaiz said at the time that three black men had called him and his wife “terrorists” before shooting them. However, it later came to light that Parvaiz had allegedly hired a romantic partner to kill his wife and injure him in the attack. Authorities have indicated that Parvaiz eventually admitted to the murder plan in a recorded interview.

During a pretrial hearing last month, prosecutors sought to admit evidence of Parvaiz’s “prior bad acts,” including evidence that he had previously tried to hire the same friend to attack him. According to prosecutors, Parvaiz hoped to blame the attack on a former girlfriend who had filed a domestic violence complaint against him.

Parvaiz’s friend, 29-year-old Antionette Stephen, Stephen described the pair’s relationship as “romantic.” At the pretrial hearing, she testified that Parvaiz asked to be attacked five months prior to the murder. Prosecutors have noted the striking similarities between this alleged attack and the attack that resulted in the murder of Parvaiz’s wife.

Stephen, who has admitted to murdering Noorani, is now cooperating with prosecutors and is expected to testify against Parvaiz at trial.

Prosecutors cannot discuss the murder of Noorani at the pretrial hearing. However, they are seeking to admit evidence of Parvaiz’s previous bad acts.

Parvaiz is on trial for felony murder. Homicide is the most serious criminal offense under the New Jersey criminal code. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3 classifies homicide as a first degree felony. If Parvaiz is convicted of first degree murder, he will be subject to a life sentence in New Jersey State Prison.

To learn more about this case, read the NJ.com article entitled “Man Accused of Hiring Friend to Kill Wife in Boonton Hatched Similar Plan Before, Friend Says.“

If you are facing homicide charges in New Jersey, contact Morristown NJ criminal defense attorney Alissa D. Hascup for a free consultation about your case.