Man accused of stabbing sister more than 100 times–found not guilty of murder

A Jersey City man accused of fatally stabbing his sister 107 times during a 2010 altercation was found not guilty of murder by a jury Tuesday.

Vishnu Phagoo, 37, remains jailed because he faces an arson charge stemming from a 2009 incident where he allegedly tried to burn down the Jersey City home of a different relative, The Jersey Journal reported.

On Tuesday morning, though, the New Jersey man offered a faint smile when jurors acquitted him after four fours of deliberations of killing Shrimatie Parasram, 45, on Sept. 16, 2010.

Phagoo and Parasram had set up a 9:30 a.m. appointment that day for the man to sell her a cell phone. She was found dead around 4:30 p.m.

"My client's happy that the jury saw that there was no evidence that proved that he did this," the man’s attorney, Scott D. Finckenauer, told The Jersey Journal. "I felt comfortable that we were going to get this."

Parasram’s 16-year-old daughter stumbled upon the gruesome scene after returning home from school. The girl’s dead mother was face down, blood everywhere, with dozens of stab wounds, some of which hit her heart and lungs, the Journal reported.

The woman had been dyeing her hair at the time of the murder, a key component in witness testimony. When Phagoo showed up for the transaction, Parasram was on the phone with her sister and said she was going to dye her hair, meaning she had not started the treatment.

That discrepancy meant prosecutors could not prove when Phagoo had been at the woman’s apartment and a medical examiner did not provide a time of death for Parasram, according to the newspaper.

No physical evidence shown during the week-long trial proved Phagoo was in the room when Parasram died.

Phagoo was found not guilty of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.