Husband killed wife with ‘cyanide-like’ substance at Long Island home after divorce papers served: cops

A mother of three’s face was left severely burned when her estranged husband gruesomely murdered her with a “cyanide-like” substance in her Long Island home — days after he was served divorce papers, according to police.

Aleena Asif, a 46-year-old certified public accountant, was found unconscious and not breathing with severe burns on her face in her Herricks home on Oct. 17 after her husband allegedly stalked her for days waiting for the chance to kill her, Nassau County Police said at a press conference on Friday.

Asif Qureshi, 53, was arrested later that day at a residence in Bellrose, Queens, where he had been living, and charged with murdering his wife, ABC 7 reported, adding that she had served him divorce papers the week before.

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Asif had just returned home from dropping their 7-year-old daughter at school when Qureshi allegedly attacked her in the house when nobody else was home, police said.

Her body was found hours later, after the couple’s eldest child, their 18-year-old daughter, called police for a welfare check after Asif did not pick the 7-year-old up after school.

The medical examiner determined Asif died from asphyxiation by an unknown chemical police believe to be a “cyanide-like substance,” according to ABC 7.

“On the 17th, we have him showing up, waiting for the right opportunity, waiting for his wife to drop off the kids at school, and then assaulting her and killing her,” Nassau Police Detective Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick told reporters.

Qureshi was served divorce papers at his Queens residence on Oct. 9, but refused to accept them and subsequently began showing up outside Asif’s Herricks home.

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She had previously asked him for a divorce in 2023. They reconciled in 2024, but she filed for divorce again this year, Newsday reported.

Qureshi, who was born in Pakistan but is a US citizen, is charged with second-degree murder — however, prosecutors are pushing to have the charges upgraded to first-degree murder.

A judge ordered that he be held without bail at a hearing on Friday.

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The alleged killer has one prior arrest for a domestic incident involving his wife, but the case is sealed, Fitzpatrick said.

Police had previously responded to five domestic incidents at the home involving Qureshi — four involving Asif and one involving the 18-year-old daughter.

Most of the fights were about finances — but Qureshi once threatened to “make [Asif] swallow bleach,” Fitzpatrick said, according to Newsday. No orders of protection were ever issued.

Their children — the 18-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and the 7-year-old girl — are staying with other relatives.