A man in New York allegedly beat his wife to death because she cooked him the wrong meal for dinner, NBC News reported.
Noor Hussein, 75, is currently on trial for the 2011 murder of his wife, 66-year-old Nazar Hussein.
In opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutors claimed Noor Hussein beat his wife to a "bloody mess" because she served him lentils for dinner.
"The defendant brutally attacked his wife as she lay in her bed," prosecutor Sabeeha Madni said in Brooklyn Supreme Court. "It was a beating that was so vigorous and so repeated that it stopped her brain functions."
His defense attorney, Julie Clark, acknowledged that her client beat his wife but said he did not intend to kill her.
"He culturally believed he had the right to hit his wife and to discipline his wife," she said of Hussein, a Pakistani immigrant. "He comes from a culture where he thinks this is an appropriate conduct."
As a result, Clark argued, Hussein should be charged with manslaughter instead of murder, which could him in prison for 25 years maximum.
The prosecution urged the court to not buy Clark's argument.
"His intention was to kill his wife once and for all," Madni said.
