Husband Wo Had His Muslim wife Killed Got $2MiL by sugar Daddy
- 'Sugar daddy' said to have been convinced by Parvaiz to hand over $2m share of property
- Comes as families start custody battle over two children
- Slain wife introduced to husband's alleged mistress and 'hit woman'
- Wife revealed her concerns about abusive marriage in cryptic text to brother
- Husband, also shot in the attack, charged after admitting involvement in the killing
- Alleged mistress thought to have pulled the trigger charged with murder
By PAUL BENTLEY
The young Muslim father charged with having his arranged wife gunned down on a New Jersey street last week by his alleged lover, signed a $2million deal with a 'sugar daddy' hours before her death, it has been reported.
After persuading a frail older gay man to hand over a share of a $9million apartment building he owned two years ago, Kashif Parvaiz, 26, signed the contract for the sale on Tuesday - hours before his wife was killed.
Parvaiz and female accomplice Antionette Stephen, 26, of Billerica, Massachusetts, both face charges of murder, conspiracy and weapons offences for the August 16 shooting of his wife, Nazish Noorani. Parvaiz also faces child-endangerment charges.
Duped? Martin Ragusa, centre, posing here with Parvaiz and Noorani, signed a $2million rent deal with his young friend, which went through on the day she was killed
The married couple were walking with their three-year-old son in Boonton, New Jersey, after a meal with family three blocks away when shots rang out.
Mrs Noorani was hit near her heart. Parvaiz was shot in the ankle and shoulder, sustaining superficial wounds. The child was not injured. The couple's five-year-old son was with family members inside the house.
According to property records, Parvaiz was in 2009 given a 30 per cent share of a building owned by wealthy Manhattan heir Martin Ragusa, 74, who has used a wheelchair since having a stroke ten years ago.
Shocked by their supposedly bizarre relationship, Ragusa's family went to court to try to block the deal for such a major share of the $9million building at 80-25 Parsons Boulevard in Hillcrest.
But after the legal bid failed and documents were signed on Tuesday, Parvaiz had lined himself up for $2million of the proceeds from the building, which is set to be sold for $9.3million in a deal planned to close next month.
Attractive couple: Nazish and Kashif are seen in this picture wearing traditional Pakistani clothing
Mugshots: Kashif Parvaiz, left, and Antionette Stephen, right, have both been charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons offences, while Parvaiz also faces child-endangerment charges
Ragusa's stepmother Marguerite, 81, told The Post: 'We signed the contract Tuesday, and I think that's why [Noorani] got killed then.'
She added that the deal was designed so Parvaiz and his alleged mistress could start a new life together.
'[Parvaiz] was a great con man. Why else would Marty [hand over his share]?' Mrs Ragusa, who owns a 20 per cent share of the building, said.
Parzaiz met Ragusa when he was 14 and hired to do maintenance work on the older man's home.
Mrs Ragusa said she did not know whether the pair had a sexual relationship, but she said Parvaiz would often spend the night at his home.
'He's a very handsome young man, and I know Marty liked him. He'd say: "He's like a son to me,"' she said.
Loving family: Mrs Noorani with her two sons, aged five and three. The youngest witnessed the horror
Shot: Nazish Noorani, right, was killed and her husband Kashif Parvaiz wounded after they were shot in Boonton, New Jersey. Parvaiz was subsequently charged with murder
Speaking after Noorani's death last week, Mr Ragusa said: 'As far as any friction between [Parvaiz and Noorani], I didn't hear anything like that. It's just that she did not want to stay in Brooklyn.
'The last thing I said to Nazish . . . She was going for her driver's test and flunked, and I said: "Try again," She said: "Pop, you think I should do that?" I said: "Yes".'
He added: 'Who shoots a person nine times, especially a person who has kids?'
The former Long Island hair salon owner, who inherited millions from his father, Albert, spoke of Parvaiz as 'my son' and called him a 'a good student, a very good father and a very good husband.'
He is said to have paid for the younger man's college tuition and given him $7,000 a month as a share of rent money he was receiving.
Another family member said: 'We just couldn't believe what was happening with Marty. He was completely brainwashed. No one recognised him any more once Kash was in the picture.'
In court: Antoinette Stephen stands behind a partition during her arraignment on a fugitive from justice charge on Friday
Noorani's family said Parvaiz had boasted that the older man was going to leave him everything he owned when he died.
The new details emerged as Parvaiz's mother was accused of locking her son's pregnant wife in a room with a dog.
'[Parvaiz's mom] locked Nazish in a room with a dog after Nazish admitted to her that she was deathly afraid of dogs,' a relative told The Post.
The families are now fighting for custody of the couple's two sons, Riyaan, 5, and Shayann, 2. They are currently living with Parvaiz's mother in Brooklyn.
Parvaiz was yesterday still in hospital but he is expected to be sent to the Morris County jail today or tomorrow.
Earlier it emerged that Noorani had met met her husband's mistress during a trip to Boston, Massachusetts.
Parvaiz allegedly flaunted Antoinette Stephen in front of his wife, even introducing her as his fiancée, according to Mrs Noorani's sister Lubna Choudry.
He later claimed he had only done this to get a discount at Boston Best Buy, where Stephen worked.
Quiet area: Mrs Noorani was returning from a meal at her sister's house in Boonton when she was killed
In an interview with the New York Post, Ms Choudry recalled her sister telling her: 'He said, "Don’t tell them you’re my wife because everyone knows she is my fiancĂ©e."'
Parvaiz initially told police his family had been attacked by a group of men who called them terrorists, authorities said on Friday, but Stephen and Parvaiz exchanged text messages in the days leading up to the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit released by the Morris County prosecutor's office.
Texts from Stephen's number describe driving around the neighbourhood to see how far away the nearest police station was.
'You hang in there. Freedom is just around ur corner,' read one text sent from a phone listed to Stephen's father to Parvaiz, according to the affidavit.
Parvaiz, who has been in the hospital, was charged after admitting he was involved in the killing. He was being held on $1million bail at press time. Authorities said they did not know whether he had a lawyer.
Mourning: Lubana Tanbeer, left, is comforted by her relative Razia Zaib while attending a candlelight vigil for Tanbeer's sister Nazish Noorani
Stephen was arrested on Thursday in Massachusetts and arraigned on Friday on a fugitive-from-justice charge. She was being held without bail at a women's prison there at press time. It is not clear when she might be returned to New Jersey. The attorney who represented her at her arraignment did not return a call seeking comment.
Parvaiz's accounts of the attack were inconsistent and immediately raised suspicions, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.
He told investigators the couple was attacked by a combination of black and white males who shouted ethnic slurs, authorities said. In his initial story, the group shouted something about the family being 'terrorists,' authorities said.
But within hours, Bianchi said 'it was obvious to investigators that this was sadly the alleged handy work of the victim's husband who allegedly did the unthinkable and plotted to murder his wife.'
Tribute: Mourners carry a casket with the body of Nazish Noorani toward a hearse during her funeral services on Friday
Authorities said Parvaiz conspired with Stephen to have his wife killed because she had dared to speak negatively about his family.
There was also speculation that they were in a secret relationship.
'There is obviously a relationship, Bianchi said. 'I’m not saying it’s a physical relationship. I’m not saying it’s a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship.'
Bianchi did not say who pulled the trigger or whether the same person shot both Parvaiz and Mrs Noorani.
The woman was buried on Friday after services at an Islamic center in Boonton, a small town about 25 miles west of New York with a solid Pakistani population.
She was a native of Karachi, Pakistan, while Parvaiz was originally from Brooklyn, relatives have said.
Charged: Parvaiz, left, introduced Mrs Noorani, right, to Stephen, not pictured, on a trip to Boston
Friends and family set up a website, www.nazishmemorialfund.org, to help the couple's two children. Writers on its guestbook told of difficulty making sense of what happened and called her death 'senseless and stupid.' One hoped the children would one day be able to 'move forward with beautiful memories.'
The site said Noorani 'lived for children' and put them before herself.
It emerged as Parvaiz’s family said yesterday that they will fight for custody of the couple’s young children, while badmouthing Mrs Noorani’s relatives.
The couple’s two boys - Riyaan, five, and Shayaan, two - lived with Parvaiz’s relatives in Midwood and also traveled up to Boston with him, his relatives said outside their comfortable single-family home on Avenue H.
'These are our babies,' declared Talat Hassan, referring to her grandchildren.
Parvaiz's sister, Zarren, adamantly said that the boys 'lived here,' and trashed Mrs Noorani’s family as a bunch of low lifes.
'They are all taking welfare. How will they take care of these kids?' she asked.
Scene: Police remove the stroller from the area as they said they believe the couple was targeted
Relatives had earlier spoken of the Muslim couple's violent arranged marriage, marred by infidelity and lies.
On Friday it emerged that Mrs Noorani lived in fear of her abusive husband as their marriage crumbled and chillingly foretold of her fate to her brother.
In a text to him she wrote: 'I dont no wht to do. Cant talk to him cuz he abuse me than ... he doesnt wanna live with me ... i dont no kids get scared of him sometimes ... im so tired of this ... i dont no Im scared...someday u will find me dead because its cuz of kaski ... he wants to kill me.'
Another neighbour said a few months ago police had been called to the couple's house.
Dorian Balla told the New York Post: 'I heard yelling from both of them, and the wife called the police.'
No charges were filed in that case.
Detectives are also investigating a possible link between the fatal August 16 shooting and an earlier gun-point robbery of Mr Parvaiz in a Boston parking lot in March.
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