A British jury has found a man guilty of fatally shooting his pregnant ex-wife with a crossbow last year.
Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo, 51, was convicted of murder on Friday for the November 2018 slaying of his estranged wife, Sana Muhammad, 35, at her London home. The Evening Standard reports that Unmathallegadoo plotted the attack for three years after his wife left him for another man. Unmathallegadoo waited a month before she was due to give birth to her sixth child to carry out the attack.
Armed with two crossbows, a knife, and a hammer, Unmathallegadoo hid in a shed located on Muhammad’s property. He chased Muhammad’s husband into the kitchen before shooting his ex-wife in the stomach and heart with 18-inch hunting bolts.
Muhammad died three hours after undergoing emergency surgery. The hunting bow that pierced her stomach missed her unborn child, who was successfully delivered via cesarean section.
The BBC reported that Unmathallegadoo married Muhammad when she was 16-years-old. Testimony revealed that the couple separated in 2012 and at the time of the slaying, a court order was in place which barred Unmathallegadoo from going near his ex-wife’s home.
Muhammad had three children with her ex-husband and two with her husband. Reports indicated that the five children —ages 1, 4, 12, 15, and 17 — witnessed their mother’s murder.
Unmathallegadoo initially denied stalking and killing his ex-wife. He told police that he went to their home on the day in question to discuss his daughter’s religion with Muhammad’s current husband.
While Unmathallegadoo originally claimed that Muhammad’s husband was his target, prosecutors said he intended to kill his pregnant ex-wife and her unborn child.
“This was a cold-blooded and calculated execution,” prosecutor Susan Krikler commented. “This devastating attack has left six children without their mother.”
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[Featured image: Sana Muhammad/Facebook]
