news-record.com

HIGH POINT (MCT) — Federal authorities have charged a local man with conspiring to have his wife killed.

In a criminal complaint filed Feb. 17 in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, Sabbir Hussain Shah is accused of using interstate commerce — specifically a cell phone and a land line phone — in the commission of murder for hire.

The complaint comes three months after Shah was arrested on a similar charge by local authorities, who accused him of conspiring with another person to have his wife, Nayyar Shah, murdered.

Shah, 56, of Florida Street, remained in federal custody Wednesday. His attorney could not be reached.

In an affidavit attached to the federal complaint, High Point police Detective Kyle Pratt gave the following account:

A source told police detectives on Nov. 11 that Shah had talked to the source about having his brother-in-law killed. According to the source, the brother-in-law was trying to kill him for money or property. The source later visited Shah at his business, Zee Auto Sales in High Point, and was offered a Lexus and cash to kill Shah's wife.

Shah had planned to travel to his native Pakistan and to Saudi Arabia as part of a religious pilgrimage the week of his arrest. Shah gave the source a key to his house and told the source to enter before Shah's wife came home from taking the kids to school in the morning. Shah instructed the source to use a gun or knife but not to harm the children.

During one meeting with Shah, the source wore an audio device, then turned over to detectives a key and a diagram of the residence Shah drew for him.