The U.S. police have successfully returned Wahid Kashifi, a former translator for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and father of two, to the U.S. after five years. Kashafi, who emigrated to the U.S. with his wife, Arezo Kashafi, in 2015, brutally murdered her in 2019 and fled the country. His trial is scheduled to take place on July 30 in Spokane, Washington.
According to the Spokane Police Department, Wahid Kashifi killed his wife, Arezo Kashafi, in a gruesome manner on May 27, 2019, and placed her dismembered body in a refrigerator. He then left his one and five-year-old children with a friend in the city, telling them that Arezo was ill and that he needed to go to work, promising to collect the children upon his return.
The report states that Kashifi left the U.S. on May 28 and traveled to Dubai. At that time, Wahid Kashafi’s parents were living in Kabul, and it was commonly believed that he had gone there as well.
The police report indicates that on May 30, approximately three days after the murder, Arezo’s friends notified the police of her disappearance and reported that her husband was not responding to calls. Following this, the police began a search and identified Wahid Kashafi’s Toyota vehicle at the Spokane airport that night.
Kashafi had left his phone in the car with a note. In the note, he provided the phone’s password and his home address, writing: “There are two videos on the phone that you should watch and judge accordingly. Regards.”
It appears that the intended recipient of Kashafi’s note was the police, as he knew they would discover his car at the airport during the search.
The Spokane Police Department did not release the videos from Kashafi’s phone but stated that in one of the videos, he confessed to the murder of his wife. Efforts by the police to locate Kashafi in 2019 were unsuccessful. The last known trace of him was in Dubai, but reports from the Spokane police and court do not specify his destination after Dubai.
Wahid Kashafi was arrested in October 2022 while leaving a volleyball hall locker room. Some reports suggest that he traveled to the Netherlands under a false name in 2021, but prior to that, he had lived in Afghanistan and Iran.
According to the spokesperson for the Spokane Police Department, after Kashafi left the U.S., a search for him was conducted across at least three continents, but his trail went cold in Dubai. The Spokane police expressed their gratitude to the Dutch police for their cooperation in Kashafi’s arrest, emphasizing their commitment to finding Arezo Kashafi’s killer and ensuring her voice was not ignored.
After his arrest in the Netherlands, Kashafi attempted to remain there with the help of a lawyer and prevent his extradition to the U.S. However, after two years, he was eventually transferred to the U.S. on Thursday, July 18.
Wahid Kashafi is now in custody, and the Spokane Police Department has promised Arezo Kashafi’s family that justice will be served.
Wahid Kashafi’s arrest and return highlight the international effort to ensure justice for Arezo Kashafi and underscore the ongoing need to support and protect those who collaborate with global forces.
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