HERRICKS, Long Island (WABC) — A man is under arrest on Friday in a gruesome homicide on Long Island after his wife was found dead and suffering from facial burns — covered with a chemical substance.
Authorities say Aleena Asif, 46, was suffocated with a cyanide-like compound by her estranged husband, who was stalking her after she demanded a divorce.
Her husband, 53-year-old Asif Qureshi, was arraigned on second degree murder charges on Friday morning and held without bail as a flight risk. Prosecutors said they will ask a grand jury to indict him on first degree murder charges.
The two fought over money and their multiple homes, and Qureshi agreed to a separation agreement in late 2024. Asif request a full divorce this summer.
On October 9, he was served divorce papers, which he refused to take. He began showing up at her house, starting the next day, and multiple subsequent dates, in a pattern of stalking, officials say.
Authorities allege he entered her home last Friday, waited for his wife to drop off the children at school, and then killed her.
Her body was found at 3:52 p.m. after their 18-year-old daughter called police because Asif did not pick up her 7-year-old daughter at the end of school day.
She was asphyxiated with severe burn marks in and around her face and mouth, officials say.
Qureshi was arrested in Bellerose, Queens, where he is renting a room on 248th Street.
He has one prior arrests for a domestic incident with his wife, which is sealed. He five prior domestic incidents dating back to 2023, four with his wife and one with his daughter.
He once allegedly threatened to force her to swallow bleach. No orders of protection had been issued.
He is an unemployed software engineer and a naturalized U.S. citizen. Asif was a certified public accountant.
“She was a very beautiful human being, hardworking, she didn’t deserve this kind of thing,” her brother said after court.
Their children – an 18-year-old girl, 14-year-old-boy and 7-year-old girl — are with other family members.
According to prosecutors, Asif and the children were so frightened of Qureshi that they turned off their surveillance cameras at the house because they were fearful he would use it to spy on them.
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