Pakistani man hired Indian girlfriend to kill wife in US

Kashif Parvaiz and Antoinette Stephen, both 26, have been accused by the police of plotting the murder of Nazish Noorani and conspiring to make it look like a hate crime.

Stephen, a Massachusetts resident, is being held on a USD 5 million bail, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said.

Parvaiz, who has been charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child, conspiracy and other crimes, is being held on a million dollar bail. The two are yet to be  arraigned.

Stephen was transferred from a jail in Framingham, Massachusetts to the Morris County Correctional Facility in Morristown.

Stephen waived her right to an extradition hearing in Lowell District Court in Massachusetts on Friday, when she was charged with plotting the August 16 murder of Noorani.

Noorani was walking with Parvaiz and their three-year-old son near the Boonton, New Jersey when she was shot at several times. While Parvaiz was also injured in the attack, their son was unharmed. The couple also has a 5-year-old son.

According to authorities, Parvaiz hired Stephen to kill his wife. He had told her to shoot him as well in the shoulder and leg so that the police would not suspect him.

Parvaiz had initially told the police that he and his wife were attacked by a white man, a black man and a third man whose race he did not know.

Parvaiz claimed it was a bias attack as the shooters yelled racial slurs at them and called them terrorists before firing the shots.

However, on further questioning, Parvaiz changed his story and said three black men had attacked them, a report in the New York Daily News said.

He later confessed to his crime as the police grew suspicious of his changing account of the incident.

According to court papers, police have found incriminating text messages between him and Stephen.

Parvaiz had recently moved to Boston from Brooklyn. Noorani's family has said Parvaiz used to physically abuse her.

Noorani had earlier texted to her brother saying, "I am so tired of this... Im scared... someday u will find me dead because its cuz of kaski ... he wants to kill me."

Police said Parvaiz had also lied to his wife's family about studying at Harvard and Columbia.

The New York Daily News added that prosecutors are yet to detail the nature of relationship between Parvaiz and Stephen.