Khalid Khan Has Bail Reduced in Murder Case

A 42-year-old Bloomfield man charged with killing his estranged wife in her Montclair home last month had his bail reduced by half by a Superior Court judge Friday, according to a published report.

Judge Peter Vasquez, sitting in Newark, lowered the bail on Khalid Khan from $1.5 million to $750,000 cash or bond, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. Khan is currently being housed in the Essex County Jail.

He is accused of the July 4 killing of his wife, Shazima Khan, whose body was discovered in the Montclair apartment she shared with her eight-year-old daughter, Samara.

As a condition of his new bail, Vasquez ruled Khan, who authorities say has ties to Kenya, must turn over his passport.

Essex County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter said at the time of his arrest Khan was previously been arrested on a simple assault charge but that he was “not convicted.” She said she did not know if the charges were dropped or if he was found innocent of the crime, or whether the alleged assault was against Shazmina.