Successful "American" Arab Beheads Wife

An Erie County, N.Y., jury took just over an hour to return a guilty verdict in
the murder trial of Muzzamil Hassan after a two-week trial. Hassan was charged
with murder in the second degree after the beheaded body of his wife, Aasiya
Zubair Hassan, was found Feb. 12, 2009. The body was found in the offices of
Bridges TV, the television station that the couple owned and operated.

Hassan emigrated to the United States in his late teens. He is college educated
and holds an MBA from the Simon School at the University of Rochester. In 2004,
he left a successful career in banking to found a cable television station
dedicated to a greater understanding between the West and the Middle East and
South Asia.

Aasiya Zubair Hassan had left the Hassan house about a week before her death. In
her 21-page court filing for a divorce, she documented the abuse from her
husband. She was issued an order of protection by the court. Zubair was Hassan's
third wife.

As part of his bizarre attempts to manipulate the system, Hassan wrote letters
from his jail cell proclaiming that he was the victim of abuse. He signed his
mother's name. The ruse was easily discovered by the Buffalo News, since the
letters were postmarked in Buffalo, N.Y., and his mother lives in Texas. In
addition, Hassan has a very distinctive handwriting style and the letters
matched writing known to be his.

Hassan acted as his own attorney, adding another unusual aspect to the trial. He
took the stand in his own defense, and claimed he had "blacked out" and did not
recall the events around the murder. Pressed by the prosecution, and shown
photos of the deceased illustrating the 40-plus stab wounds, he could only
respond "things happened." See Chick's MEN OF PEACE.