By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A Mercer County Superior Court judge has ruled that a 47-year-old Mozart Court woman, who was charged with murder, was legally insane when she killed her mother-in-law in January 2016.
Tasneem Diwan, who repeatedly struck her 73-year-old mother-in-law in the head with a vase, was committed to a state psychiatric facility by Judge Robert Billmeier during a bench trial last week. A bench trial is held without a jury.
Judge Billmeier relied on psychiatric reports in reaching the verdict and the resultant decision to commit Tasneem Diwan to a psychiatric facility.
Safia Diwan, 73, was found dead in a front office of the home on Mozart Court. Police discovered the body after responding to a 911 call. Her son, Nauman Diwan, found the body when he returned home after repeatedly trying to contact his mother and his wife by phone.
Tasneem Diwan fled the home after the incident and was located several days later, on Jan. 29, 2016, in the bus terminal area of the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City and returned to Mercer County. Police began looking for her after they found bloody clothing in a hamper at the Mozart Court home.
