A 37-year-old Auburn man is accused of strangling his wife to death in their bed on Sunday morning because he suspected she was having an affair with a relative’s husband, though police later determined there was no indication she was involved in an adulterous relationship, according to King County prosecutors.
Sayed Nazir Sadat was charged Wednesday with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Geety Sadat. Prosecutors allege the killing is a crime of domestic violence and was committed within sight or sound of children, an aggravating factor that, if proven, could provide the basis for an exceptional sentence.
He remains jailed in lieu of $3 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
Geety Sadat’s killing is the 13th domestic-violence homicide committed in King County this year and the 12th involving an intimate partner, according to Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County prosecuting attorney’s office. These domestic-violence homicides account for about 14% of the 90 homicides committed in the county so far this year, according to a Seattle Times database.
Sayed Sadat called 911 just before 8 a.m. Sunday and reported that he had killed his wife 30 minutes earlier inside their apartment at the Gentry Walk Apartments in the 12700 block of Southeast 312th Street, charging papers say. He stated he had already called his sister to come pick up the couple’s three children, ages 6, 9 and 11, who were sleeping in another bedroom, the charges say.
Auburn police officers arrived and detained Sayed Sadat, placed the children into protective custody and summoned medics, who confirmed Geety Sadat was dead on the bed, according to the charges. She had extensive bruising on her throat consistent with fingerprint impressions, the charges say.
In an interview with detectives, the charges say, Sayed Sadat told them he and his wife are from Afghanistan, married there in 2013 in an arranged marriage and immigrated to the U.S. two years ago. He said he became suspicious his wife was having an affair with her relative’s husband about a year ago, based on conversations he’d overheard between them, charging papers say.
“He could not explain the context or content of these conversations but described them being inappropriate because of culture,” a detective wrote in charging papers. He also claimed his wife had gone to the other couple’s home “without his permission.”
During the interview with detectives, Sayed Sadat said he had thought about killing his wife for at least a week, and said the homicide was an “honor killing” because she had dishonored his family by having an affair, the charges say. He also said he wanted to kill the relative’s husband but would have needed a weapon to do so and he didn’t know where to get a gun, according to the charges.
Detectives learned Sayed Sadat had gone to an emergency room the day before killing his wife, complaining of sleeplessness and headaches, the charges say. The husband of Geety Sadat’s relative later told police he saw Sadat run into traffic outside the hospital and said he “was not acting like himself,” charging papers say.
There was no indication from the relative’s husband “that he was involved in or had any knowledge of Geety being involved in any adulterous relationships,” according to the charges.
An autopsy found Geety Sadat suffered numerous injuries, including a broken hyoid bone, a U-shaped bone in the neck above the larynx that is commonly damaged in cases of extreme strangulation, charging papers say. She also had extensive petechiae in and around her eyes and gums, the charges say.
Petechiae are pinpoint hemorrhages that occur on the skin and eyes when blood is trapped too long in the jugular veins, causing tiny blood vessels to break, and are also common injuries in strangulation.
“Domestic violence is not a private matter — it’s a public safety crisis,” David Martin, chair of the King County prosecuting attorney’s office’s domestic violence unit, said in a statement. “Behind every statistic is a person whose life mattered — and a family and community left to grieve. Awareness must mean more than recognition; it must drive the change that saves lives.”
A report of crime victims produced by the prosecuting attorney’s office last year showed nearly 30% of 5,070 filed adult felony cases involved gender-based violence and a majority of those victims were women, according to McNerthney. Women of color also represent more than half of felony domestic-violence survivors in the county, he said.
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