Crime & Safety

Former Bloomfield Bus Driver Gets 50 Years for Killing Estranged Wife

Judge accused Khalid Kahn of writing letters to his daughter to sway her testimony.

A former bus driver from Bloomfield was sentenced to 50 years in prison Thursday for killing his estranged wife in her Montclair apartment in 2011, NJ.com reported.

Khalid Khan stabbed 31-year-old Shazmina Khan three times in the neck and left her to die in a locked bathroom of the Wheeler Street apartment she shared with their 8-year-old daughter, prosecutors said. 

Khan was found guilty in October following a three-week trial, which included incriminating testimony from his daughter.

Find out what's happening in Bloomfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

During the sentencing Thursday, Superior Court Judge Martin Cronin accused Khan of attempting to sway the daughter, who had been with her father the day of the murder, from testifying against him, according to reports.

Khan, 44, wrote multiple letters to his daughter from his Essex County jail cell. In one letter, he wrote, ““You can hate me all you want. But just remember. I am the someone who will always love you.” 

Find out what's happening in Bloomfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The daughter’s testimony given in the fall placed her father at the apartment on the night of July 3, 2011. The girl told the jury she had spent the day with her father and he dropped her off at the Montclair home in the evening. 

Prosecutors said at the time that the girl woke up in the night to use the bathroom and could not find her mother. She used her mother’s cell phone to call a downstairs neighbor who came to the apartment and managed to force open the bathroom door, finding Shazmina Khan’s lifeless body inside.

Blood found on Kahn's clothing and the driver's side of a car he borrowed from a friend tied him to the murder, prosecutors said.

The couple had a history of domestic violence, but Shazmina Khan did not have a restraining order against her husband.

Neighbors on Wheeler Street organized candlelight vigils in the days after the murder shocked the Glenfield Park neighborhood. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.