Arrest warrant issued for Afghan immigrant suspected of killing wife in Spokane

Investigators are seeking to arrest Wahid Kashify, an Afghan immigrant suspected of killing his wife and hiding her body in a freezer last month. He has fled the country.

The sheriff’s office said in a news release Tuesday it was working with federal agencies on extraditing Wahid Kashify back to Spokane County after he fled to a still-undisclosed country. He could face charges of first-degree murder in the death of Arezu Kashify.

Her body was discovered last week in an apartment at 33 E. Graves Road that she shared with her husband. Investigators found it under the false bottom of a chest freezer. The Spokane County Medical Examiner on Monday confirmed the woman’s identity.

Deputies said Wahid Kashify left the country May 28 using a one-way airline ticket, two days before his wife was officially reported missing by family friends. She was last seen May 25.

In a search warrant filed last week, detectives theorized that Arezu Kashify had become increasingly scared of her husband, even telling a nurse that he would kill her if she notified law enforcement. Friends told deputies the couple had ongoing marital problems, and one friend reported seeing bruises on Arezu Kashify’s leg.

While details of the alleged crime have not been released, deputies reported that a video on Wahid Kashify’s phone may show her death. Before leaving the country on an international flight, he apparently wrote a note and put it in the center console of a Toyota Sienna minivan parked at Spokane International Airport.

It provided a code to his phone, which was left in the couple’s apartment, with a message.

“There is a video or two videos that you can watch and judge,” it read. “Thanks.”

The couple came to Spokane on a special immigration visa for people who worked with the U.S. military. Wahid Kashify fought with U.S. forces in Afghanistan as a translator until he moved to the United States in 2014.

Wahid Kashify earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice at Spokane Community College in 2017 and owned a business called Cougar Taxi, according to the Washington State Department of Revenue.