Follow the trial here: http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/hassan%27s-son-takes-stand-during-trial

Hassan’s son takes stand during trial
Michael mentions defending his step mother

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors are working to build their murder case against Muzzammil Hassan in court.
The early witnesses called by the prosecution set up the scene leading up to the killing of Aasiya Hassan.

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Divorce Beheading Trial: Contrasting Accounts

HufPo- BUFFALO, N.Y. — Contrasting images of a former New York television executive accused of stabbing and decapitating his wife were presented on the opening day of his trial Tuesday, with prosecutors calling the attack a final act of domination and control over the woman who was divorcing him. The defense described the killing as an act of blind fury by a husband who feared for his own life.
Muzzammil Hassan admits killing [BEHEADING] his wife in February 2009, six days after she filed for divorce. But, he has pleaded not guilty based on his claims he was a battered spouse.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Bonanno said evidence and testimony from the suspect’s own children, the victim’s stepchildren, will show it was Aasiya Hassan who was repeatedly beaten and terrorized.
Hassan, who stands over 6 feet tall, is shown on surveillance video testing the sharpness of hunting knives at a Wal-Mart before buying two an hour before the killing,
He’s seen again at the darkened TV station where he surprised his wife from behind after luring her there to drop off clothes for him, he said.
Aasiya Hassan was stabbed more than 40 times as the couple’s 4- and 6-year-old children and the suspect’s teenage son from a previous marriage waited in a minivan outside for her to complete the errand on their way to dinner, Bonanno said.
“Then (Hassan) took those knives and he sawed Aasiya’s head off,” using so much force that the floor tiles underneath were damaged, the prosecutor said.

When he emerged from the station, Hassan handed his oldest son an envelope full of cash and then drove away, stopping first at a hotel to clean up before reporting his wife’s death at the Orchard Park police station, Schwartz said.”
He killed Aasiya and desecrated her body because six days earlier, she had dared file for divorce, dared to seek a better life for herself and her children. The defendant could not and would not tolerate that” [an “honor killing,” a slaying by a relative who believes the victim has brought shame to the family]
The twice-divorced Hassan was in a relationship with another woman at the time of the murder.