In what authorities are describing as a stalking case, a Texas truck driver allegedly broke into the home of a woman who hosted a podcast that he listened to, killed her and her husband, and then committed suicide.
According to the Daily Beast, authorities have named the victims as podcaster Zohreh Sadeghi, 33, and her 35-year-old husband Mohammed Naseri. Meanwhile, Ramin Khodakaramrezaei, a 38-year-old truck driver, is the suspect.
Police said they investigated a call reporting shots fired inside a home in Redmond, Washington, about 15 miles east of Seattle, and discovered the bodies of Sadeghi, Naseri, and Khodakaramrezaei. According to investigators, Sadeghi’s mother was present in her daughter’s home when Khodakaramrezaei broke in. She was able to escape to a neighbor’s house where she dialled 911.
Naseri was extricated from the house by emergency personnel, who gave him CPR but were unable to revive him, according to a statement from Redmond police. Meanwhile, Sadeghi and Khodakaramrezaei were pronounced dead.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Redmond’s police chief, Darrell Lowe, said Khodakaramrezaei initially became familiar with Sadeghi after he listened to a podcast which she was “affiliated with” that was about “gaining employment in the tech industry”.
After listening to the podcast, Khodakaramrezaei corresponded with Sadeghi before “things escalated” and she obtained a court order forbidding him from contacting her, according to the police statement.
The nature and frequency of Khodakaramrezaei’s messages had begun to worry Sadeghi. Khodakaramrezaei once called her more than 100 times in a single day, according to Lowe.
According to the Daily Beast, Khodakaramrezaei’s obsession with Sadeghi quickly developed into actual stalking; at one point in 2022, he followed her to a conference in Denver, Colorado.
“Redmond officers and detectives were familiar with the victim and residence because of the ongoing stalking investigation,” police said.
According to Lowe, Sadeghi received no tangible protection as a result of the no-contact order she obtained, as reported by the Daily Beast. When Sadeghi and her husband were killed, Khodakaramrezaei had not yet received the order.
“I think the key piece here is that a protection order is simply a piece of paper that does not prevent a person from causing harm to another person,” Lowe told the outlet.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and the Redmond community following this horrific tragedy,” Lowe said as he expressed his sorrow over the couple’s passing. This is the worst result that can happen in a stalking case and is incredibly sad. We’ll keep looking into what caused this tragic loss.
According to the Stalking, Prevention, Awareness and Resource Center, 13.5 million Americans are victims of stalking, which frequently makes them fear for their lives or for physical harm. The FBI reports that women are stalked more than twice as frequently as men.
