An Auckland man has pleaded guilty to stabbing to death 21-year-old AUT law student Farzana “Zana” Yaqubi in West Auckland late last year.
East Tamaki resident Kanwarpal Singh, 30, was arrested on December 20, one day after Yaqubi was found dead in an alleyway near home about 5.45pm — spurring a large-scale investigation.
He admitted the murder earlier this month and is set to be sentenced in August, defence lawyer Paul Borich KC confirmed to the Herald today.
Yaqubi has been described by family and friends as a top student who was on scholarship and already had a job offer. She was born in New Zealand shortly after her father arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan, fleeing Taliban persecution.
An observant Shia Muslim, she had been preparing for a religious pilgrimage to Iraq with her family.