The brother of a California woman who fell 140 feet to her death in Arizona is accusing the woman's husband of murdering her. The two were on a mountain hike when the woman died after plunging from a cliff.
Hassanayn Joseph told The New York Post that his sister, Zaynab Joseph, was murdered. He's convinced that her husband pushed her from the cliff.
"I knew my sister was beginning the process of separating from her husband after years of abuse," Hassanayn said. "So, to me, it was clear there was some foul play involved."
The California woman was a teacher and also a mother. The woman passed away back in April. She went on a hike at Bear Mountain in Coconino National Forest with her husband, Syed Danish Zaidi. She never returned. The duo were with their 10-month-old on the hike. They were on vacation with their children and the California woman's mother-in-law.
California Woman's Brother Claims Foul Play
According to the California woman's brother, Zaidi said that his wife died trying to retrieve his lost phone.
"He gave us this B.S. story about him trying to take her photo, and dropping his phone," Joseph said. "He said it bounced, and she went after it and then went over the edge. But my sister wouldn't have risked her life for a phone. His story made absolutely no sense."
Her brother traveled to Arizona to visit the cliff where his sister died and to talk with local authorities as well as eye witnesses.
"The hikers were there within a minute, and said they saw no tears from him," said Joseph of his brother-in-law. "Where this happened is a very flat area, so if he had dropped his phone, it wouldn't have rolled away at all. The hikers said that for the phone to have gone over, they figured you'd have to be standing within two feet of that cliff's edge, and I can't imagine my sister ever doing that."
According to Joseph, his sister was about to leave her husband. After her death, Zaidi prevented her children from attending the funeral. Currently, authorities haven't charged him with a crime.
Joseph said after uncovering some of Zaidi's since-deleted pre-vacation Reddit posts seeking information about Bear Mountain's Fay Canyon trail, and property claims amid a divorce, he's certain Zaidi learned Zaynab was about to leave, and "he threw her off the cliff" as planned.
"This was very methodical, very calculated," Joseph said. "Justice is on its way. I just hope it arrives before he tries fleeing to Pakistan. He almost planned the perfect murder."
