MORRISTOWN — Kashif Parvaiz, accused of conspiring to shoot his wife to death on a Boonton street in 2011, told an investigator the incident was an "accident" that was "not meant to happen."

In a recorded interview given by Parvaiz about five hours after the shooting, played in court today, Parvaiz acknowledged saying, “I didn’t want to be the person to look at my children and say ‘I took away your mother.’ ”

Parvaiz told former Morris County Prosecutor’s Capt. Jeffrey Paul that there had been problems for years in his marriage to Nazish Noorani. But in the recording played this morning in Superior Court in Morristown, he didn’t talk about who fired the weapons that killed his wife and wounded him.

Parvaiz, 28, of Brooklyn, is accused of conspiring with his friend, Antoinette Stephen, 28, of Billerica, Mass., to kill his wife and wound him to make it look like a bias attack. The couple was in Boonton to celebrate Ramadan with Noorani’s family. Stephen pleaded guilty to murder in May and is expected to testify against Parvaiz in his murder trial.

In the pre-trial hearing, which began earlier this month, the prosecution is seeking permission to use Parvaiz' statements to investigators in the trial.

Paul testified today about a non-recorded interview he conducted with Parvaiz and later, a recording was played in which Parvaiz confirmed what he had told Paul earlier.

Initially, Paul testified, Parvaiz said he and his wife had been attacked by three black men who called them “(expletive) terrorists” before opening fire – a version Parvaiz had told other investigators.

But later, during an interview at Morristown Medical Center, where Parvaiz was treated for his wounds, Parvaiz talked at length about the problems in his marriage.

The recording shows that it was Paul who broke the news to Parvaiz that his wife had died. Parvaiz cried upon hearing the information.

Parvaiz acknowledged saying that he had been married for six years but “should not have gotten married” because there had been problems all along. He said his wife wanted a divorce but his parents wanted him to stay married for the sake of the children.

Parvaiz said his wife had been raised as a “princess” and felt his family was “substandard.” She got angry at him for buying gifts for his nieces and nephews and for not spending enough on a gift for her niece, and also criticized him for not charging his father for handyman work, Parvaiz said.

Parvaiz admitted telling Paul his wife was “loose in the head with psychiatric issues.”

After he moved to Boston, where he ran a contracting business and told family members he was attending Harvard University, his wife cut off his phone calls and refused to let him speak to their two children, Parvaiz said.

Parvaiz also acknowledged he had been “cheating” on his wife and said she became angry when he posted a picture of his unnamed girlfriend on his Facebook page.

Paul was to continue testifying this afternoon.

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