A man convicted of killing the father and sister of his former girlfriend in a fiery attack on the family 's Southern California home was sentenced to death on Tuesday . Iftekhar Murtaza , 30 , was sentenced for the murders of Jay Dhanak , 56 , and his daughter Karishma , 20 , in May 2007 , the Orange County district attorney 's office said . Murtaza was convicted in December 2013 of killing the pair in an attempt to reunite with his then-18-year-old ex-girlfriend Shayona Dhanak . She had ended their relationship citing her Hindu family 's opposition to her dating a Muslim . To be executed : Iftekhar Murtaza , 30 , was sentenced to death Tuesday for the May 21 , 2007 murders of his ex-girlfriend 's father and sister and the attempted murder of her mother . Authorities said Murtaza and a friend torched the family 's Anaheim Hills home and kidnapped and killed Dhanak 's father and sister , leaving their stabbed bodies burning in a park 2 miles from Dhanak 's dorm room at the University of California , Irvine . Dhanak 's mother , Leela , survived the attack . She was stabbed and left unconscious on a neighbor 's lawn . Murtaza was interviewed by police several days later and arrested at a Phoenix airport with a ticket to his native Bangladesh and more than $ 11,000 in cash . Jurors recommended that Murtaza be sentenced to death for the crimes . Attack : Murtaza torched his ex-girlfriend 's family 's Orange County home after they broke-up , believing the murders of her family would reunited them . Religious differences : Murtaza dated Shayona Dhanak when she was 18 in 2007 . She broke up with him when her Hindu parents allegedly told her they would stop paying her college tuition if she continued to date the Muslim man . Two of his friends were also sentenced to life in prison for the murders , but one of them , Vitaliy Krasnoperov , recently had his conviction overturned on appeal . Authorities said Krasnoperov hatched the plot to kill the Dhanaks with Murtaza and tried to help him hire a hit man . They said another friend , Charles Murphy Jr. , helped Murtaza carry out the killings after Dhanak said she planned to go on a date with someone else . During the trial , Murtaza testified that he told many people he wanted to kill the Dhanaks because he was distraught over the breakup , but he said he did n't mean it literally . Did n't do it alone : Two of Murtaza 's friends have been convicted in connection to the killings . Killer : Leela Dhanak testified how Iftekhar Murtaza , seen in this August photo , murdered her husband and elder daughter in a failed attempt to win over her younger daughter . Bloodbath : Autopsy reports showed Jayprakash Dhanak ( left ) suffered 29 stab wounds to his body , while a pathologist testified that Karishma Dhanak ( right ) was alive when her throat was slit and her body set alight .
Iftekhar Murtaza , 29 , was convicted a year ago of killing his ex-girlfriend 's family in a fiery attack on the family home in 2007 . On Tuesday he was sentenced to death in Orange County . Found guilty of stabbing Jaypraykash Dhanak , 56 , slitting the throat of his 20-year-old daughter , Dhanak , and setting their bodies on fire . Wife Leela Dhanak was stabbed in the stomach and had her throat slashed , but miraculously survived . Murtaza concocted the murder plot with two friends after Dhanka 's youngest daughter , Shayona , broke up with him over religious differences . Murtaza married a 20-year-old suspected murderess in jail in 2011 after exchanging letters with her for five months .