BUFFALO, N.Y. — A former New York television executive was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Wednesday for beheading his wife two years ago. Muzzammil Hassan was found guilty of second degree murder in February. Prosecutors painted the 46-year-old as an abusive husband who planned the attack on his third wife, 37-year-old Aasiya Zubair Hassan.
The murder took place on Feb. 12, 2009 at Bridges TV, the Orchard Park, N.Y., television station the couple founded. Hassan allegedly lured his wife to the studio, then attacked her from behind, stabbing her more than 40 times with two hunting knives and cutting her head off, according to The Buffalo News.
The Pakistan-born Hassan, who took over his own defense, claimed he was the victim of his wife's abuse and suggested he killed her in self-defense.
He wrote letters from jail continuing to assert that he suffered from battered spouse syndrome and that he "broke down under years of abuse" on the night of the murder, The Buffalo News reported.
Hassan spoke briefly before his sentencing, saying, "I deeply regret that things came down to what they came down to."
Before he announced Hassan's sentence, Erie County Court Judge Thomas Franczyk said he did not doubt Hassan and his wife had "serious problems," but said "any suggestion that the defendant acted in self-defense flies in the face of logic."
"Justice demands that you receive nothing less than the maximum possible sentence," Franczyk said, citing the horrific nature of the crime and Hassan's "persistent inability or unwillingness" to express remorse for his actions.
