A husband stabbed his wife to death in the bathroom of their home because she wanted a divorce, a murder jury has been told.
Two days before the killing, the jury heard that defendant Yacoub Rezai (32) had told his brother-in-law he thought his wife was cheating on him.
The court heard he had told him: "There will be no divorce. I'll kill her and go to the police station."
Rezai, of Hand Avenue, Braunstone, Leicester, denies murdering Raihana Rezayi (23) – the mother of his two children – on November 13 last year.
Judge Michael Pert QC told the jury at Leicester Crown Court yesterday that Rezai accepted he was responsible for the killing – the issue was "whether it is murder or manslaughter".
Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, said that after stabbing his wife to death between 11am and midday, Rezai took his two-year-old son with him to collect his five-year-old daughter from primary school, getting her by pretending she had a dental appointment.
He drove to the victim's sister's home in Reading where he left the youngsters before handing himself in to the police.
During the journey from Leicester, the defendant's brother-in-law, Moshen Rezayi, phoned and asked him if he wanted to speak to a solicitor for advice.
The defendant, a taxi driver, allegedly replied: "It's too late, I've killed her."
The brother-in-law went to the house in Hand Avenue with a neighbour and used ladders to break in through an upstairs window at 2pm.
"The deceased was in the downstairs bathroom," said Mr Lowne. "They called the police."
Mrs Rezayi was dead on the floor, having suffered several knife wounds, including a fatal injury penetrating her abdominal cavity and aorta, he said.
A kitchen knife was found in the bathroom sink.
Mrs Rezayi had wounds to her back, thigh and arm, as well as bruising to her face, possibly where she hit her head on the lavatory seat.
Mr Lowne said: "The Crown say it's consistent with someone wanting to cause serious harm. It was a determined attack."
At the police station in Reading, where he handed himself in at 4.30pm, the defendant confessed to stabbing his wife.
He also said: "Have you checked if my wife is OK?", and then later said he had "killed" her.
After being transferred to Leicester, the defendant gave a "no comment" interview.
Mr Lowne said the couple, both from Afghanistan, were married in Iran in 2005.
They met because their fathers, then living in Iran, were friends.
The defendant brought his wife to England, where they had two children and moved to Hand Avenue in 2011.
Mr Lowne said neighbours described them as "quiet".
"In the two months or so leading up to November 13 there seems to have been a deterioration in the relationship," said Mr Lowne.
"He (Rezai) suspected his wife may have been having an affair.
"She was attending college to learn English and he had some suspicions."
The court heard Mrs Rezayi went to stay with her sister in Reading in October and, while she appeared happy, had told her she wanted to get divorced.
Mr Lowne said: "She said she didn't like her husband anymore."
Towards the end of October, the defendant was "crying, shaking and upset" when he visited his brother-in-law.
Mr Lowne said: "He said his wife had asked him for a divorce. He thought she'd found someone better and younger.
"She'd told him she wasn't happy and her father had forced the marriage upon her.
"She was deleting text messages and he thought she was in contact with a boy from college on Facebook. Her behaviour had changed."
Rezai told his brother-in-law they no longer talked or had sex, nor did she cook for him.
On November 11, the jury was told, Rezai told the brother-in-law: "There will be no divorce. I'll kill her and go to the police."
A female friend of the deceased, Mohammad Afzel Najela, told the jury she saw Mrs Rezayi looking "upset" at a gathering in November, but she seemed normal the next time they met.
Under cross-examination, Mrs Najela agreed with defence suggestions that Rezai was a hard-working, calm and non-violent man.
Rezai's barrister, Bobbie Cheema QC, asked: "Did she ever tell you there was a male friend whom she was regularly contacting on the telephone?"
"No," replied Mrs Najela.
Miss Cheema said: "You were her best friend, but she never told you about it?"
"No," said Mrs Najela.
The trial continues.
