Police recruit falls under suspicion of murder

Kabeer Din, 22, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, a New York Police Department recruit was convicted Monday of conspiring to hire someone to murder his girlfriend - who stood by him throughout the trial and defied a protective order to see him.

Photo: Police recruit falls under suspicion of murder

Din, who faces 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison, was arrested last summer after meeting with a New York undercover officer he thought was a hit man to discuss killing Sherry Nohar for $3,000 (2,244EUR). Din made a written confession to plotting to have the 24-year-old woman killed, and he was recorded discussing the scheme, prosecutors said.

During the trial, Nohar adamantly defended the man she continued to call her boyfriend, testifying in his defense and saying she was working to have him vindicated. Despite a court-imposed order of protection, she continued to see him, she said.

But on Monday, as the verdict was read, Nohar was nowhere to be seen. Days earlier, as prosecutors played audio and video recordings of Din talking about the plot to kill her, she had giggled.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Scileppi had said Din wanted Nohar killed because she did not want to marry him and he feared she would report to the NYPD something that would be damaging to him.

On cross-examination, Nohar conceded that the couple had been fighting in the days before Din's arrest on July 31. She also admitted saying Din was possessive and wanted to spend all his time with her.

Defense attorney Craig Purcell told the judge on Monday that Din accepts responsibility for his actions and blames nobody but himself for "ruining his life."

Sentencing is set for April 30.