A man accused of killing his wife in Washington state in 2019 and hiding her body in a freezer was returned to the United States on Thursday from the Netherlands.
Wahid Kashify fled the United States three days after 24-year-old Arezu Kashify was reported missing, the Spokane Spokesman-Review said. She was last seen on May 26, 2019, when she dropped her children off with a friend.
Her husband bought a one-way ticket to Kabul, Afghanistan on May 30, the day she was reported missing. Police found his car at the Spokane International Airport.
Inside the car, they found Wahid Kashify’s cell phone and a note with a code to open the phone. “There is a video or two videos that you can watch and judge,” the note said. “Thanks.”
Police have not released those videos but said Kashify admits killing his wife.
Arezu Kashify’s body was found on June 4 beneath a false bottom in the freezer at the couple’s apartment. The county Medical Examiner said she died from “homicidal violence” but did not provide further details.
Wahid Kashify was arrested in 2022, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said.
“There are no ends that we will not, and have not gone to, to bring Mr. Kashify back here to stand trial for this senseless act of murder,” Sheriff John Nowels said in a statement.
The Kashifys were living in the United States since 2015 on a special immigration visa issued for those who worked with the US military in Afghanistan, the Spokesman-Review said. Wahid Kashify had been a translator. He earned an associates degree in Washington and was set to become a US citizen on June 5, 2019, the day after his wife’s body was found.
A friend told investigators that the couple had been having difficulty, apparently over Arezu Kashify’s desire to stop dressing so conservatively. Court records show that she had said she was afraid of her husband and that he would kill her if she went to police.
Wahid Kashify is expected to make a first appearance this month. He’s being held on a $1 million bond on a charge of first degree murder.
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[Featured image: Arezu Kashify and Wahid Kashify/Spokane County Sheriff’s Office]
