A Long Island grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Bellerose man with sneaking into his estranged wife’s home and poisoning her with cyanide.
Asif Qureshi, 53, faces charges of second degree murder and burglary in the October 17, 2025, death of Aleena Asif, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.
Asif, 46, was found dead in her home with facial burns, and the medical examiner said she died from chemical asphyxiation, as CrimeOnline reported.
Donnelly said that Asif took her children to school on October 17 and then return, unaware that Qureshi had broken into the house and was “lying in wait” for her to return.
“When he had her alone, he allegedly held cyanide over her mouth, killed her, and left her body for their children to gruesomely discover,” Donnelly said.” A home should be a place of sanctuary, but this defendant turned it into a house of horrors.”
Qureshi entered the home when Asif left to take her 14-year-old son to school shortly before 8 a.m. She took her 7-year-old daughter with her, but returned with the daughter a few minutes later. Qureshi remained hidden in the home, Donnelly said, when Asif left with the daughter at about 8:50 a.m. to walk her to school.
Asif returned home a few minutes after 9. Qureshi remained inside until nearly 11 a.m. before leaving and walking to a nearby intersection, where he got on an electric scooter and rode away.
That afternoon, the young daughter’s school phoned her 18-year-old sister to say that Asif had not picked up the 7-year-old at the end of the school day. The teen called police, who arrived at the home and found it locked. When they entered, they found Asif dead on her bed “with red facial burns around her mouth.”
Investigators obtained surveillance video showing Qureshi wearing the same dark clothing he was seen wearing when he arrived at the home on several other occasions, including locking the electric scooter to the pole a week before the murder, walking to house and around it, and then leaving.
Qureshi was arrested a week after the murder.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held without bond. His next court appearance is February 18, according to Law&Crime.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Asif Qureshi/Nassau County Police Department]