BRONX MAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE BEATING DEATH OF HIS GIRLFRIEND

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that Cecil Jacob, 59, has been convicted of murdering his 37 year old girlfriend during a heated argument in April 2004. The jury deliberated for three and a half hours before finding Jacob guilty on one count of Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Waheeda Khan.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Judith Lieb set sentencing for Thursday, March 30, 2006 in Part 26. Jacob is facing a maximum term of 25 years to life imprisonment.

Khan was bludgeoned to death in the apartment in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx that she had shared with the defendant and her two sons, ages 19 and 15. The murder occurred on April 27, 2004. Khan began arguing with the defendant because he had sent her 19 year old son to the store at approximately 2:00 a.m. to buy fried chicken. As the argument over the boy’s safety escalated, Jacob became enraged and began striking Khan’s face and head repeatedly. The Medical Examiner determined that the deceased died as a result of blunt force trauma. The murdered woman’s son discovered the body lying in a pool of blood at the foot of her bed when he returned home from the store. The 19 year old boy alerted his younger brother who was asleep in another bedroom and then called 911. Jacob, who had fled after committing the murder, surrendered two days later.

Senior Trial Assistant District Attorney Bruce Birns is prosecuting the case.