Guilty of wife’s violent murder

A SYDNEY man who stabbed his wife 14 times after seeing sexual messages from their friend on her phone has been found guilty of her murder, with a judge rejecting he was substantially impaired by a depressive illness at the time.

Shahab Ahmed, 35, had pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to murdering his wife, Khondkar Fariha Elahi, 29, in their Parramatta unit in February 2017, claiming the partial defence of substantial impairment by abnormality of mind.

But Justice Monika Schmidt, who presided over his trial without a jury, yesterday found this defence had not been established.

“The obvious ferocity of his attack … is quite consistent with deliberate acts and not just a loss (of) control,” she said.

Ahmed viciously stabbed his wife, including to her face, leaving the tip of the knife broken between her teeth.

His pre-trial plea of guilty to manslaughter was not accepted and Justice Schmidt convicted him of murder.

The judge said the jealous husband watched Ms Elahi “until she had stopped breathing” before calling triple-zero, later providing “a chilling description of all that he had done to her” to police.

According to the agreed facts, he first became suspicious of his wife’s affair with Omar Khan in April 2015.

A heated argument began on February 18 in 2017 when Ahmed snatched Ms Elahi’s phone to read her messages before dragging her into the bedroom and demanding to know the truth.

Ahmed, who also went by the name Russel, later picked up a kitchen knife, saying: “If you shout or scream, I’ll kill you. Give me access to your phone. I will show that you are lying. After proving that I will go away.”

THE OBVIOUS FEROCITY OF HIS ATTACK … IS QUITE CONSISTENT WITH DELIBERATE ACTS AND NOT JUST A LOSS (OF) CONTROL

Ms Elahi unlocked her phone but after seeing her ongoing contact with Mr Khan, including recent messages “of a sexual nature”, Ahmed began stabbing her repeatedly.

“When the accused was stabbing her, the deceased was saying ‘Forgive me Russel, forgive me Russel’,” the facts state.

Ahmed left her dying on the bed and smoked several cigarettes over 10 minutes.

He changed his Facebook status to “THE END” and switched his wife’s profile picture to one of them smiling together.

The 35-year-old showed no obvious reaction to the judge’s murder verdict and will be sentenced at a later date.

JUSTICE MONIKA SCHMIDT