Investigators arrested a suspect this morning for the murder of tech C.E.O. Fahim Saleh, 33. Saleh’s personal assistant, Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, is expected to be charged with second degree murder, along with other crimes, according to two officials who spoke with New York Times.
Saleh was discovered by his sister in his Lower East Side Manhattan condo earlier this week on Tuesday, July 14. She had gone to check on Saleh after not hearing from him about 24 hours, and walked into a horrific scene. Saleh had been partially dismembered, his head, arms, and legs removed from his body, and placed into large plastic bags. An electric saw was still plugged in near the bags.
According to New York City’s medical examiner, Saleh had died from multiple stab wounds to his neck and torso. Detectives initially described the murder a “hit,” saying it looked “like a professional job,” later surmising that the killer’s attempt to clean up the crime scene was interrupted when Saleh’s sister was buzzed in from the lobby. Authorities believe Saleh’s murderer fled through a back door to the condo and down a stairwell before Saleh’s sister entered the condo.
Detectives say Saleh was murdered the day before on Monday, July 13. Saleh previously discovered his assistant had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from him. According to the officials who spoke with the Times, Saleh did not report the theft to authorities but instead set up a payment plan for his assistant to pay him back the money. It’s unknown when or why this money was stolen, or why Saleh tried to handle the matter privately, but detectives believe this had something to do with the killer’s motive.
Investigators also believe that the killer, dressed in a black three-piece suit and carrying a duffel bag, followed Saleh off the building’s elevator and into his condo where he incapacitated Saleh with a taser before murdering him. Afterward, the murderer bought cleaning supplies from Home Depot on his employer’s credit card and tried to vacuum up any trace evidence in Saleh’s condo. It appears that his alleged return the next day was an attempt to dispose of the body.
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Saleh’s family told the Times that he is “much more than what you are reading,” adding “his brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind.”
Saleh was born in Saudi Arabia to Bangladeshi parents, and the family eventually moved near Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Saleh graduated from Bentley University in Waltham, MA in 2009, and then went on to create the app PrankDial, which turned into a $10 million business. He then founded Pathao, a motorcycle ride-sharing start-up in Bangladesh, later leaving that company in 2018 to start a similar company in Nigeria called Gokada. At the time of his death, Saleh was also the founding partner in Adventure Capital, a Manhattan-based venture capital fund.
Source: gizmodo.com
