Jury convicts man in mother-in-law's fatal stabbing

A Nassau jury on Friday convicted a Hicksville man of stabbing his mother-in-law to death and of the attempted murder of his wife during a birthday party for his twin sons in August 2008.

The jury deliberated for a day before returning guilty verdicts in 10 of the 11 counts with which prosecutors had charged Harpal Hira.

The jury found Hira, 35, a cell-phone merchant, not guilty of one count of attempted murder.

Hira, of Hicksville, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31 by Nassau County Judge Alan Honorof. He faces up to 50 years in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

"We're pleased with the verdict," said Martin Meaney, Nassau County assistant district attorney. "This is what should have happened."

Meena Kohli, 54, died after being stabbed several times. Hira's wife, Ritika Hira, 25, survived. Harpal Hira fled the home after the stabbing and drove to Florida, prosecutors said. The subject of an international manhunt, he returned to New York, where he was found in Richmond Hill about a month after the crimes, police said.

"He couldn't run from the jury's verdict," Meaney said of Hira.