MINEOLA, Long Island (WABC) — A Long Island man accused of poisoning his estranged wife was arraigned Thursday on murder charges.
Prosecutors say he hid in his estranged wife’s home in October and waited until she was alone before poisoning her with cyanide.
“This is one of the most horrifying cases I have ever seen in my career,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
The Nassau County DA outlined the details of the murder on Larch Drive in Herricks, a quiet street where prosecutors say, 53-year-old Asif Qureshi committed the type of murder so horrific, it doesn’t seem real.
“Basically, he seared her lungs,” Donnelly said. “She took a breath and the cyanide just burns your lungs.”
They say Qureshi laid in wait last October until his estranged wife, 46-year-old Aleena Asif, had returned home alone after dropping their children at school. That is when he allegedly placed the cyanide on a rag and suffocated her, but on Thursday in court, there was no indication Qureshi would admit to the crime.
“His statements were very self-serving,” Donnelly said. “‘Couldn’t be me, you know, I was someplace else.’ That type of thing.”
Defense attorney Stanley Rubin said Qureshi is presumed innocent, and said his client has “vigorously entered a plea of not guilty on all counts of this indictment.”
The family of Aleena Asif, agonized yet again, seeing Qureshi in person at the courthouse.
According to police, Qureshi stalked his estranged wife for months after she demanded a divorce.
Sources told Eyewitness News, there were several prior reports of trouble at the home, including one incident in which Qureshi allegedly threatened to force Asif to swallow bleach.
Asif’s brother spoke out shortly after the murder in October.
“She was a very beautiful human being and very hard-working,” he said. “She didn’t deserve this kind of death.”
On Thursday, the family was simply too devastated to speak.
Qureshi is still held without bail on second-degree murder charges.
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