“My childhood is gone because of that man,” 13-year-old Justin Abbasi said. “I saw what he did to my mom, and I know what he can do.”
The defendant, Asghar Elia-derani, 55, was successful in proving his remorse over the killing of his 42-year-old wife March 16, 2008.
“Every day in the last two years has been the worst of my life. I’ve been thinking of Justin and Tina [his 17-year-old daughter] every night,” Eliaderani said in court. “Tina, I love her forever. Justin will always be in my heart. Losing a wife was very unfortunate and disaster for me. I’m so sorry my kids, they don’t have a mother.”
The jury deliberated for 14 hours after a trial that lasted a little over a week before they found Eliaderani guilty of involuntary manslaughter rather than murder. Circuit Court Judge Steven John gave the maximum sentence for that crime, five years.
Defense attorney Russell Long said he believes his client will be released in less than two years.
“One of the greatest fallacies I’ve heard is we have to stay together for the kids,” Judge John said. “Divorce, although painful, is certainly better than a result such as this. I understand there were cultural differences. I appreciate that. Violence is unacceptable, however unintentional it may have been.”
Horry County police said Mrs. Abbasi died after being comatose for two days after being stabbed repeatedly. The defense argued Mrs. Abbasi died from cardiac arrest. Assistant Prosecutor Brad Richardson said Mr. Eliaderani killed his wife when she went to his store to get documents so she could take her children to Iran to visit her family over the summer.