Trial Begins For Coral Springs Man Accused In Wife's Murder
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Trial got underway Wednesday for a Coral Springs man accused of killing his wife four years ago.
Munawar Toha reported his wife Surya missing in late March of 2010 and made a tearful public plea for help to find her. Detectives later uncovered surveillance video which reportedly showed Toha driving his family car into a canal behind his workplace at 4100 N. Powerline Road. His wife's body was later discovered in the submerged vehicle.
According to police, she suffered multiple head wounds and may have been asphyxiated. A plastic bag was over her head when her body was found.
In court, Wednesday, a number of witnesses testified about Toha's behavior after he reported his wife missing. His wife's brother-in-law said Toha never cried about his wife's disappearance until he made the public plea. Prosecutors played video of the tearful plea in court.
His wife's sister testified Surya would never have left her two sons. She also testified that Toha claimed his wife's disappearance was hard on him because he was left to care for the children.
The murder trial is expected to last through much of next week.
In 2012, Toha was convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill four people scheduled to testify against him at the murder trial.
While in jail, Toha met inmate Oscar Izguierdo, who said he acted as the middleman and put him in touch with a so-called private investigator who would take care of four witnesses whose statements helped detectives build a murder case.
Toha didn't know the person he believed to be a hit man was really Fort Lauderdale Police Detective William Walker who secretly recorded his conversations with Toha.
A jury found Toha guilty on all of the counts of solicitation of murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
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