Pakistani husband arrested for murder his Indian wife in New York

Minara Helen: Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Bellerose man was indicted on murder and burglary charges for allegedly sneaking into his estranged wife’s home, waiting for his children to leave for school, and then poisoning and killing the 46-year-old mother with cyanide.

Asif Qureshi, 53, was arraigned before Judge Terence Murphy on grand jury indictment charges of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony); and two counts of Burglary in the First Degree (a B violent felony). The defendant pleaded not guilty and was remanded. He is due back in court on February 18, 2026. If convicted, Qureshi faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

“Aleena Asif brought her children to school on October 17th, 2025, unaware of the danger lurking inside of her own home and her estranged husband hiding in the shadows,” said DA Donnelly. “Asif Qureshi allegedly snuck into the house during school drop off, lying in wait, until his wife returned home. When he had her alone, he allegedly held cyanide over her mouth, killed her, and left her body for their children to gruesomely discover. A home should be a place of sanctuary, but this defendant turned it into a house of horrors. Our thoughts are with Aleena’s three children as we prosecute this tragic case.”

DA Donnelly said that, according to the indictment, on October 17, 2025, at approximately 7:00 a.m., victim Aleena Asif’s 18-year-old daughter left their home on Larch Drive in Herricks to attend college classes.

A short time later, at approximately 7:53 a.m., the 46-year-old victim left her home with her 14-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter to drop them off at school.

Once the victim left, the defendant, Asif Qureshi, the victim’s estranged husband, dressed in a dark hooded jacket, baseball cap, black gloves and a mask, and holding a red and white tote bag, allegedly unlocked the front door of the home and entered the house.

Aleena Asif returned to the home at approximately 8:00 a.m. accompanied by her young daughter, while the defendant was allegedly hidden inside of the house, and left with the child again around 8:50 a.m. to walk her to school. Alenna Asif returned to the home just after 9:00 a.m. and entered.

At approximately 10:50 a.m., the defendant, dressed in the same clothing with the same tote bag, and a large black duffle bag, exited the home and walked to the intersection of Marcus Avenue and Denton Avenue, where he got onto an electric scooter locked to a telephone pole and drove away on Hillside Avenue toward Bellerose.

That same afternoon, Aleena Asif’s 18-year-old daughter received a call from her younger sister’s school informing her that her mother never came to pick the child up when school ended.

The teenager called police who arrived at the Larch Drive home, which was locked.

When officers entered, they found Aleena Asif deceased in her bedroom, lying face up on her bed with red facial burns around her mouth.

An autopsy conducted by the Nassau County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the victim died from asphyxiation due to the inhalation of a chemical agent, later determined to be cyanide.

Surveillance video obtained during the course of the investigation captured the defendant in the same clothing, unmasked, at a 7-Eleven and a bus stop in Queens near where the defendant had been living before and after the murder.

Video evidence captured on October 10, 2025, also allegedly captured the defendant, dressed in the same clothing, locking the electric scooter used to flee the scene a week later to the same pole near Marcus and Denton Avenues.

On that day, the defendant allegedly walked up to the home, circled the house, and left. The defendant is again captured on video at a 7-Eleven along the route to the home with his mask down.

A search warrant executed on the defendant’s home following his arrest recovered black latex gloves similar to those seen in video surveillance and bags consistent with the red and white tote bag the defendant allegedly carried on the day of the murder.

Asif Qureshi was arrested on October 23, 2025, in Bellerose, Queens, by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Bureau of Special Operations.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Brian Rodriguez of the Homicide Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Daryl Levy and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Stanley Rubin, Esq.

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.

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BP/SM