VAN NUYS : Man Who Killed Wife Convicted of Manslaughter
A man who claimed he had been psychologically emasculated by an abusive wife for 25 years escaped a murder conviction Friday when a jury instead found that he had acted in the heat of passion when he bludgeoned her to death.
With the Van Nuys Superior Court verdict, Moosa Hanoukai, 55, faces a maximum sentence of 12 years for voluntary manslaughter, compared to life in prison for murder, as prosecutors had sought.
“We consider it a major victory,” said lead defense attorney James E. Blatt.
Hanoukai told the jury that he attacked his 45-year-old wife with a wrench after she wished death upon him and their child. Hanoukai said he hit his wife, Manijeh, dozens of times on March 29, 1993.
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