Prosecutor: Knife for birthday cake used in stabbing

Harpal Hira used a knife that had sliced through cake at his twin sons' birthday party to kill his mother-in-law and stab his estranged wife, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the opening of the Hicksville man's murder trial.

Assistant District Attorney Martin Meaney told jurors that Hira "turned his rage" onto his mother-in-law and then his wife in August 2008 by stabbing them with a large, black-handled chef's knife.

Sparking the violence, Meaney told the jury in opening statements, were complaints from Hira's wife, Ritika Hira, 25, about Hira's drinking. Police removed two bottles of Scotch whisky from the home as evidence.

PHOTOS: Harpal Hira arrest and trial

"He grabbed a knife," Meaney said. "He used the same knife used to cut cake. He turns his rage on her."

His wife survived. Hira's mother-in-law, Meena Kohli, 54, died after suffering nine stab wounds, prosecutors said.

Meaney cautioned jurors that they shouldn't be fooled by Hira's claims to police that his sister-in-law committed the crimes.

"The evidence will show that story is not true," Meaney said. "It was him. He did it."

Meaney said the couple was married in 2004 and their twins were born May 1, 2008. In East Indian culture, a newborn's birth is celebrated each month of the first year of life, he told the jury.

The killing was a "crescendo" after weeks of strife in the family, Meaney said. Hira's wife had obtained an order of protection against him three months before the killing after a violent domestic dispute, he said. The protection order covered Kohli and the family's housekeeper, according to court testimony.

But despite the order of protection, Hira's wife frequently invited Hira to visit the couple's home, defense attorney Michael DerGarabedian of Rockville Centre told jurors.

In his opening statement, DerGarabedian told the jury that the prosecution's case amounted to assumptions, failure to run down leads and a single-minded pursuit of Hira.

"They didn't do an investigation of this case," DerGarabedian said.

Hira, 35, owned several cell phone stores in Brooklyn, is the father of two young children and took in his mother-in-law, DerGarabedian said.

"You will hear a very different side of the story," he said.

Hira fled the home after the stabbing and drove to Florida, prosecutors said. The subject of an international manhunt, Hira returned to New York, where he was found in Richmond Hill about a month after the killing and assault, police said.

Testimony was scheduled to continue on Friday.

PHOTOS: Harpal Hira arrest and trial