The Region - News from May 28, 1986

A man accused of killing his pregnant wife with a rolling pin could face the death penalty, Los Angeles prosecutors said. Amer Bukhari, 24, was arraigned on two counts of murder in the slaying of his 22-year-old wife, Francine, and her 4 1/2-month-old fetus. Under California law, Bukhari could face the death penalty as a multiple murderer, the district attorney’s office said. However, because of state Supreme Court rulings, for the second murder count to stand it would have to be proven that the fetus would have been “viable”-- that is, capable of sustaining life and fully developing under medical care independent of its mother, prosecutors said. Bukhari, a Jordanian national, allegedly beat his wife to death in their Hollywood apartment on May 20, police said.