Detective: Texts point to plot to kill in Boonton

A Morris County jury on Wednesday heard the chilling, verbatim content of 118 text messages that authorities say is evidence of a conspiracy between Kashif Parvaiz and his lover to kill Parvaiz' wife in Boonton in 2011.

"It would be a great help if I could see u before all this happens," Parvaiz' lover, Antionette Stephen, texted to him on Aug. 15, 2011, about 24 hours before she admittedly gunned down Parvaiz' wife, Nazish Noorani, 27, on Cedar Street in Boonton and wounded Parvaiz with four bullets.

Parvaiz, who is charged with murder and with conspiring with Stephen to kill his wife, agreed to let police examine his cell phone before he was a suspect in the 11:15 p.m. killing on Aug. 16, 2011. He originally told police that he and his wife, a Muslim couple in Boonton to celebrate the Ramadan holiday with relatives, were randomly attacked on the street by gunmen calling them terrorists.

According to trial testimony, Parvaiz admitted to a detective that he orchestrated the killing and his own wounding out of depression and discontent with his six-year marriage. Stephen, now 30, of Massachusetts, is expected to testify next week against Parvaiz.

Called to testify Wednesday by Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano, office Detective Jan Monrad said he was tasked with getting call detail records and text message information from Verizon Wireless, the cellular service provider for Parvaiz.

Monrad focused on calls and the content of text messages to and from Parvaiz' phone between Aug. 12 and Aug. 17, 2011. While Parvaiz communicated with many people in that time frame, Monrad said, he determined that Parvaiz was engaged in a high number of text conversations with one particular number, later determined to be a cell phone used by Antionette Stephen.

Monrad said the text exchanges between Stephen and Parvaiz "appeared to be the planning of the attack on Nazish Noorani."

Between Aug. 12 and Aug. 16, the night of the shooting, Parvaiz sent 58 texts to Stephen and she initiated 60 texts to him. In the same time frame, Parvaiz called her 13 times; Stephen initiated five calls to him.

Monrad read the content of all 118 texts to the jury.

Parvaiz texted Stephen that he would be depositing $400 into an account, and cautioned at times that he didn't want to text or message so she should call him. By Aug. 15, 2011, the texts indicated that Stephen was in Boonton, scoping out the neighborhood, while Parvaiz kept her apprised of his whereabouts and activities with his wife and her family.

"I can meet u. I told Naz I ate too much. I can take a walk and meet u," Parvaiz texted Stephen the evening of Aug. 15. She texted him: "I'm down Church St.," a reference to the street where Noorani's father and brother lived.

Later -- in what authorities contend was further preparation by Stephen for the shooting -- she texted Parvaiz: "I'm driving to the nearest precinct to judge their driving distance."

Close to midnight on Aug. 15, 2011, Stephen texted Parvaiz that she was parked outside Noorani's sister's home in Boonton and she had to lie flat in her car so Noorani's relatives wouldn't see her when they suddenly came home.

"U won't believe what just happened," the text about the near-encounter began.

When Stephen wrote late on Aug. 15 that "It would be a great help if I could see u before all this happens," Parvaiz responded with the words: "I'll try."

The last text between the pair was at 2:12 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2011, when Stephen wrote to Parvaiz: "Call me if u can. Delete all messages from phone. I won't msg from here on."

Jurors also heard from Morris County Sheriff's Officer Phil Mangiafridda, who is assigned to the criminal investigation section and went with a team to Massachusetts on Aug. 19, 2011, to conduct a search of a home in Billerica that Stephen, now 30, shared with family members.

Mangiafridda told the jury he found three handguns during a search of Stephen's bedroom. A loaded, .45-caliber handgun was found in a black bag in a bedroom closet and a 9mm handgun and small-caliber revolver were found wrapped together in a towel and tucked into a purple box that was inside a locked suitcase, Mangiafridda said.

Mangiafridda also collected from Stephen's bedroom a business card for American Firearms School.

Because of Lincoln's birthday Thursday and President's Day Monday, the trial will continue Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Robert Gilson in Morristown.

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