NEWSDAY: BUFFALO - The founder of a Muslim-American television station pleaded not guilty Friday to beheading his estranged wife.
Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, 44, is charged with one count of second-degree murder for the Feb. 12 death of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan at the offices of Bridges TV in the suburb of Orchard Park.
The Pakistani-born businessman, who has been in custody since reporting his wife's death soon after it happened, remained held without bail.
"The proof of guilt in this case is strong," prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable told Erie County Judge Thomas Franczyk. She cited alleged admissions, forensic evidence and "strong motive evidence." Aasiya Hassan was stabbed multiple times and decapitated less than a week after having her husband served with divorce papers.
"We believe he would and could flee the jurisdiction if released," Gable said in arguing against bail.
Defense attorney James Harrington did not oppose the position.
Hassan did not speak during his brief arraignment, except to tell the judge he understood the proceedings.
Harrington declined to comment afterward.
The case against Hassan is striking in its irony. Muzzammil and Aasiya Hassan launched the Bridges TV network in 2004, saying they wanted to counter negative stereotypes and media portrayals of Muslims.
Harrington has dismissed suggestions by some that the beheading was a so-called "honor killing," rooted in cultural notions about women's subordination to men.
District Attorney Frank Sedita said Muzzammil Hassan's two teenagers by a previous marriage and the two young children he had with the victim are living with relatives.
Bridges TV was off the air in the days following the killing, but has since resumed broadcasting. [Source: Newsday] The Associated Press | Friday, March 13, 2009
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