Man Kills Estranged Wife and Hides Her Body Under Garden Flower Bed, Sentenced to Life in Prison

A 42-year-old Welsh man, identified as Alireza Askari, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 26 years after he confessed to stabbing his wife to death. The sentence was pronounced on March 13.

The victim, 37-year-old Paria Veisi, disappeared from Cardiff on April 12, 2025. Veisi’s body was found a week later in the garden of her house, where she previously lived with her husband, Askari.

According to the court, Veisi was buried in a makeshift graveyard where a pond had previously been located. Patio slabs, soil, and newly planted flowers were placed on top to cover the grave site, according to news reports.

Askari’s aunt, identified as Maryam Delavary, 48, admitted to assisting him in disposing off Velsi’s body. She was also sentenced to five years and six months in prison. The judge, Mrs. Justice Stacey, told her, "You were in it together.”

A witness who was in a car near the house at the time of the murder, around 4:30 p.m. on April 12, 2025, heard a scream, which they initially thought was from a horror film. Veisi had gone to the Foster Drive house after a phone call with her estranged husband. Shortly after her arrival, he stabbed her to death with one of the four kitchen knives he had brought earlier that day from Tesco.

The prosecutor, William Hughes KC, mentioned that the absence of defensive injury on Veisi’s body suggests that the attack took her by surprise. Veisi had moved out of the property less than a fortnight before she was murdered.

An examination of Veisi’s body found four stab wounds to the neck and two slash wounds. After the killing, Askari changed his clothes and visited a nearby leisure center. He then stopped at a supermarket to buy bleach and a duster to attempt to clean up the crime scene.

Askari used a jet washer to clean the scene and brought plants to cover up where Veisi’s body was buried. After a friend of Veisi raised concerns about her whereabouts, police carried out a welfare check. Both Askari and his aunt told the police that they did not know where Veisi was, but they claimed that Veisi had a boyfriend in Iran, according to reports by BBC.