Ahmed Dawood Seedat [right], was accused of bludgeoning his wife Fahima Yusuf, [left], to death as their children slept at their home in Western Australia in Aug 2018. Seedat, 37, had searched online for ways to bury someone alive and cremate a body

An accountant who brutally murdered his wife and buried her in their garden so he could be with her sister has been jailed for 23 years.Ahmed Dawood Seedat, was jailed for 23 years on Monday.
Seedat, 37, bludgeoned Fahima Yusuf, 32, to death as their children slept at their home in Western Australia last August.
Terrified Fahima’s last words to her husband were: “I love you”, before she was buried in a hole dug by a contractor thinking it was for a pool for the couple’s children.
Seedat had searched online for chilling terms such as “cremating a body”, “best place to knock someone out” and burying someone alive.
He was sentenced today in the West Australian Supreme Court to life behind bars, with Justice Bruno Fiannaca describing the killing as brutal, callous and cowardly.
He said Seedat planned the murder for weeks and had egotistical motives.
Justice Fiannaca said Seedat struck his wife of eight years with a wheel brace as she slept.

The court heard that Seedat [left], struck his wife of eight years Fahima Yussuf, [right], with a wheel brace as she slept. The couple who were  married for 8 years are seen here with their children

Fahima Yusuf woke up after the first blow but was vulnerable and easily overpowered by him as he continued his attack, Justice Fiannaca said.
Seedat then choked or suffocated Ms Yusuf and buried her in a hole that had been made by a contractor who was told it was to install a pool for his children, aged two and five.
Seedat claimed her final words were that she loved him, but Justice Fiannaca said that only demonstrated her horror and desperation to stop him from killing her, and the betrayal she felt.
The victim’s cause of death remains undetermined but Justice Fiannaca said she suffered lacerations to her head and body, and had sand in her mouth but not in her airways.
After his wife’s death, Seedat lied to explain her absence, telling friends and neighbours she had gone to the UK for eye surgery and telling her sister she had left him.
Seedat also asked a friend to call his father-inlaw, impersonating a police officer.
Justice Fiannaca said it was part of Seedat’s narcissistic traits that he thought people would believe his lies and he would get away with the crime: “It may have been technically clumsy but it was calculated behaviour,” Fiannaca said.
Fahima Yusuf was reported missing four days after her death and police found her body the following day.

After Fahima Yusuf’s death, Seedat tried to cover up his deeds, lyeing to explain his wife’s absence, telling friends and neighbours she had gone to the UK for eye surgery and telling her sister she had left him

Seedat choked or suffocated Yusuf to death and buried her in a hole that had been made by a contractor who was told it was to install a pool for his children, aged two and five

Seedat had intended to try to pursue a relationship with his sister-in-law, who he described as his best friend, but she viewed him as a brother.
“You envisaged a future with your sister-in-law … you had become emotionally dependent on her,” Justice Fiannaca said.
Seedat had also searched online: “Can you marry your brother-in-law if your sister is dead muslim?”
Justice Fiannaca said Seedat had deprived his children of both their parents, but accepted he was remorseful.
The court heard Seedat had told police that while he was beating his wife, she had said “I love you”.
He said they were her last words.
“The deceased would have been terrified.”
Seedat sat with his head in his hands and shook as the details of the crime were read to the court.
He was sentenced to life in jail, with a no possibilty of parole 23 years.

Seedat had been the director of a Perth accounting firm before his arrest, is also facing fraud charges, accused of embezzling millions in clients funds to feed his gambling habit

An earlier sentencing hearing heard Seedat was undone by a series of internet searches in the weeks before the killing, which the prosecution said showed the murder had been planned in advance.
They included “burying a cat”, “cremating a body” and “burying someone aliv [sic]”.
Text messages between Seedat and his wife’s sister were also presented to the court, with the prosecution saying that while they were just “close friends”, the inference could be made that he had wanted to progress his relationship with his sister-in-law after his wife’s death.
A further internet search by Seedat on August 8 2018, three weeks before the murder, added to that inference.
“Can you marry brother in law if sister dead, muslim [sic],” it read.
Seedat claimed his marriage was falling apart because of his wife’s “sexual demands of him”.
He told police she was emotionally abusive and on the night of the murder she had become “sexually aggressive” towards him, and he attacked her.
The court was told Seedat had engaged the services of a prostitute for a number of years before he murdered his wife.
Defence lawyer Bernard Standish told an earlier hearing his client was remorseful and knew he would go to jail, but was hopeful he would be considered for parole.
Seedat had been the director of a Perth accounting firm before his arrest.
The court heard he was also facing a string of fraud charges, accused of squandering his clients out of millions of dollars to feed his gambling habit.
An earlier hearing was told he would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time betting on horse racing.
He has indicated he intends to plead guilty to those charges.