Jury: Kashif Parvaiz guilty of wife's murder in Boonton

Kashif Parvaiz, who juggled three girlfriends while married with two children, was found guilty Thursday of conspiring with one mistress to gun down his wife, Nazish Noorani, on a late summer night in Boonton in 2011.

The Morris County jury of eight women and four men deliberated less than four hours between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning before finding Parvaiz, now 29, guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, endangering the welfare of a child, child abuse, hindering apprehension by lying to police, and two counts each of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Parvaiz showed no visible reaction to the verdict as he sat sandwiched between his two lawyers at the defense table. He faces life in prison when sentenced on April 24. Though he did not literally pull the trigger, he was found as an accomplice guilty of murder.

SEE PHOTOS: Murder trial begins

The victim's brother and sister, Kaleem Noorani and Lubna Choudhry, were present for the verdict with their spouses. Choudhry burst into tears in the hallway after the verdict and her brother enveloped her in his arms in comfort. Jurors leaving the courthouse declined comment.

The victim, 27, was killed on Aug. 16, 2011, by three gunshots that admittedly were fired by one of Parvaiz' girlfriends, Antionette Stephen, now 30, of Billerica, Mass. Stephen met Parvaiz in January 2010 while they both were attending an architectural college in Boston. Parvaiz, his wife and their two sons -- then 5 and 2 -- were in Boonton for a few days to celebrate breaking the fast of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan with relatives.

While Parvaiz was living apart from his family in Boston, where he pretended to attend Harvard University, his wife lived with the two boys at Parvaiz's parents home in Brooklyn, N.Y. Morris County Assistant Prosecutors Matthew Troiano and Erin Callahan presented evidence at trial that showed Parvaiz and Stephen exchanged numerous texts on their cell phones that made it clear Parvaiz knew Stephen was in Boonton the night before the shooting.

Stephen, who was precluded by court order from elaborating in depth on her relationship with Parvaiz, pleaded guilty in May 2013 to murdering Noorani and conspiring with Parvaiz to do so. She has yet to be sentenced but faces a minimum of 30 years in prison, with 30 years of parole ineligibility.

As a cooperating state's witness, Stephen told jurors that Parvaiz convinced her over time that Noorani was an apathetic mother and cared only about money and objects. Stephen said Parvaiz told her he was divorced under Muslim law but not American law, and that Noorani couldn't be bothered to bring their oldest child, Riyaan, to a hospital for necessary blood transfusions to treat his sickle cell anemia. The child was never ill with the disease, according to testimony.

Defense lawyers had argued that Stephen acted alone and that the two handguns used to kill Noorani and wound Parvaiz were found in Stephen's bedroom closet in Massachusetts. Stephen had testified that Parvaiz procured the handguns and they agreed he would be shot also to make the crime appear to be a robbery or bias attack.

SEE PHOTOS: Guns brought out during testimony

Prosecutors had argued that Parvaiz's desire to rid himself of his wife intensified over time. Between 2009 and 2010, he wrote to black magic companies and paid at least $4,500 for spells and prayers that would cause his wife to commit suicide, leave him, die an accidental death or "disappear."

When the black magic hopes proved fruitless, Parvaiz asked Stephen's sister, Sandra Stephen, if she could procure a substance that would make a person's heart stop while she was on a trip to India, according to testimony.

Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com