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Parvaiz gets life for wife's 'execution' in Boonton

Peggy Wright
@PeggyWrightDR

A man who schemed for years to rid himself of his young wife -- and found a willing conspirator in a girlfriend -- was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for arranging the 2011 fatal shooting of spouse Nazish Noorani on a Boonton street.

Kashif Parvaiz enters Morris County Superior Court before he was sentenced to life in state prison, plus 10 years, in the murder of his wife, Nazish Noorani, who was shot to death on a Boonton street by Antionette Stephen in 2011.

"I don't see any chance for redemption here," Superior Court Judge Robert Gilson, sitting in Morristown, told convicted killer Kashif Parvaiz, who had arranged for his girlfriend, Antionette Stephen of Billerica, Mass., to murder his wife and wound him to make it appear he too was a victim.

Parvaiz, now 29, was found guilty by a Morris County jury in February of murder as an accomplice on Aug. 16, 2011; conspiracy to commit murder, endangering the welfare of a child, hindering apprehension by lying to police, possession of hollow point bullets and two counts each of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The judge imposed life in prison, which technically equates in New Jersey to 75 years. Parvaiz -- who declined to make a statement -- must serve 85 percent of the 75 years, or about 64 years before parole eligibility on the murder charge. On top of that, the judge added another 10 years by imposing consecutive sentences of seven years for child endangerment and three years for hindering.

The victim's brother, Kaleem Noorani, described a sweet, giggly sister whom everyone loved being around.

"Four years later as we still struggle to heal, my mind often recalls that tragic night Nazish's presence was ripped from our lives. Even though I try not to let it, upon walking the street where this horrific tragedy happened, when I ran down Cedar Street after getting a call from my brother and seeing Nazish lying on the street, I feel sick to my stomach and my eyes are filled with tears where I can barely see. The thoughts of what Nazish must have gone through and the pain, the agony and fear that she must have felt plague my mind," Noorani told the judge.

Kaleem Noorani, surrounded by friends, his wife, and his sister Lubna Choudhry, said he could barely bring himself to speak civilly to Parvaiz at sentencing.

"It sickens me knowing that at the very same time we were having dinner together that night you had already set your plan in motion to murder Nazish. I don't understand why you chose to kill my sister and the mother of your children. If you wanted to eliminate her from your life, the logical and legal solution would have been divorce. However, you took a coward's way out," Kaleem said.

"You thought you were smarter than most. Better than most. Above the law. The truth is you are a sociopathic liar. You are selfish, heartless, spoiled, an abusive coward and an embarrassment to your family and children. You are a failure as a husband, father, son and as a human being but above all you are an evil murderer," Kaleem said.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Erin Callahan, called Parvaiz "narcistic and manipulative." Parvaiz shopped around for someone to do the killing and didn't care about putting his little son in harm's way when the shooting started, Troiano said.

"He may be an accomplice in the eyes of the law but I would submit all the blood is on his hands," Troiano said.

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Defense lawyer John Latoracca had asked the judge to sentence Parvaiz to 30 years in prison, with 30 years of parole ineligibility.

The jury had heard evidence of a diabolical secret plot to kill Noorani -- a 27-year-old mother of two sons, then ages 5 and 2 -- that was hatched by Parvaiz and his girlfriend of 20 months, Antionette Stephen.

Noorani was killed by three gunshots on Cedar Street in Boonton around 11:15 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2011, as she and Parvaiz were wheeling their 2-year-old son in a stroller from Noorani's sister's house to the nearby home of their father. Parvaiz received four, non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and at first told police the family was attacked by three men yelling "You (expletive) terrorists!"

Co-defense lawyer John J. Bruno Jr. said that he and Latoracca will not handle Parvaiz's appeal but they believe the conviction will be reversed. Issues likely to be raised on appeal include the admission at trial of alleged incriminating statements that Parvaiz made to a detective while the conversation was not being recorded; the anticipated lesser sentence of Antionette Stephen, the actual shooter, compared to Parvaiz's sentence; and permitted testimony about "prior bad acts" committed by Parvaiz in the months and years leading up to the murder.

Parvaiz's tale of a bias attack based upon his and his wife's Pakistani ethnicity quickly began to fall apart. Parvaiz was living in Boston at the time and pretending to be a Harvard University student while his wife and their sons were living with his parents in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The family was in Boonton on Aug. 16, 2011 to break the fast of Ramadan with relatives, and Noorani was planning to relocate to Boston to continue her college education and be with Parvaiz.

Within a few hours of the killing, Parvaiz was confiding in a detective that he had a girlfriend and that his wife was materialistic and an indifferent mother to their sons. Confronted about possible involvement, Parvaiz had called the shooting "an accident that wasn't meant to happen."

The investigation revealed that Parvaiz -- who did not testify at trial -- had conspired with Stephen to shoot his wife, wound him and make the attack appear to be a robbery. At the time he was romantic with Stephen, he was also "engaged" to a woman in New York and had a third mistress.

Gilson, the judge, told Parvaiz the case cried out for a life sentence. He said that he observed Parvaiz throughout the trial and while handling an array of pre-trial motions and never saw a shred of emotion or remorse.

"Defendant led his own wife into an execution in the presence of his own child," Gilson said. "I see no possibility of redemption in this defendant."

Stephen turned against Parvaiz by accepting a plea bargain and testifying against him at trial, where she hinted that he was abusive to her. Stephen was not permitted to testify about any alleged domestic violence in her relationship with Parvaiz.

But she detailed for the jury months of planning the murder of Noorani. Stephen testified that Parvaiz had convinced her he was divorced under Islamic law but not American law, and that Noorani was refusing to get medical treatment for their oldest son's sickle cell anemia. The boy never had the disease but the lie gained Stephen's sympathy and willingness to help in a murder plot.

Stephen is expected to be sentenced on June 5 to 30 years in prison, with the full 30 years to be served before parole consideration.

Stephen told jurors that she and Parvaiz practiced together at a shooting range and that they tossed around an array of ideas on how to kill Noorani. These included Stephen committing a drive-by shooting of the wife in Brooklyn and rear-ending their vehicle, giving Parvaiz a chance to snap his wife's neck and make it appear her neck was broken in the crash.

Jurors also heard how Parvaiz, before meeting Stephen in January 2010, contacted companies that purported to be experts in black magic. He sent at least $4,500 to one company he found online, asking its owner to put a spell on his wife, or make her disappear or commit suicide.

Latoracca, the defense lawyer, told the judge that Parvaiz still maintains his innocence but feels responsible for the murder because of his relationship with Stephen. The defense at trial had contended that Stephen planned the killing on her own; the weapons were found in her home in Massachusetts.

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