LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Arraignment was delayed Monday for three people charged in connection with the shooting death of a doctor outside his medical clinic in Woodland Hills in what authorities have described as a murder-for- hire.
The victim’s ex-wife, Ahang Mirshojae, 53, of Calabasas, is charged along with Evan Hardman, 41, of Tomball, Texas; and Sarallah Jawed, 26, of Canoga Park, in the Aug. 23 slaying of her former husband, Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, 61.
Ahang Mirshojae appeared in a downtown courtroom Monday morning for a scheduled arraignment, but neither Hardman nor Jawed were brought into court. Superior Court Judge Susan De Witt rescheduled arraignment for all three defendants for Wednesday morning. They were all ordered to remain jailed without bond.
Authorities said the victim was ambushed Aug. 23 as he walked to his vehicle in the parking lot outside his clinic in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, near Warner Center Park.
Ahang Mirshojae was arrested Dec. 12, with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman subsequently alleging that the woman hired a hit man to kill the victim for unspecified financial gain.
The murder charge against her includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder for financial gain in connection with the slaying of her ex-husband, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. She is also facing a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with an alleged baseball bat attack May 3 on her former husband.
The murder charge against Hardman includes the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder by means of lying in wait, along with allegations that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and that he has a string of robbery convictions in Los Angeles County dating back to 2002, according to the complaint.
The murder charge against Jawed includes the special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain.
Hardman and Jawed are also charged along with the doctor’s ex-wife in the May 3 baseball bat attack.
Jawed, who was arrested Dec. 11 by the Los Angeles Police Department’s fugitive unit, allegedly drove Hardman out of state a few days after the killing, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The three remain jailed without bail.
A fourth defendant, Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, of Reseda, pleaded not guilty Dec. 12 to one count of being an accessory after the fact, along with an allegation that she has one or more prior serious or violent felony convictions.
Sweeting — who is accused of driving Hardman to and from the scene of the shooting — remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
She is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom Feb. 5, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to allow the case against her to proceed to trial.
At a news conference last month, the district attorney said Ahang Mirshojae was charged with “effectively hiring a hit man” — Hardman — to carry out the killing for financial gain. The district attorney did not provide any specifics about the amount of money involved or how much she allegedly paid to have the victim killed.
“The horror and betrayal of this crime are beyond words, and it is with a heavy heart that we must also announce that charges have been filed against Dr. Hamid Mirshojae’s ex-wife, Ahang Mirshojae, in connection with this tragedy,” Hochman said. “The depth of the deceit and violence involved in this case is chilling, and we will not rest until justice is served.”
Mirshojae’s ex-wife was taken into custody following a police raid on a sprawling mansion she’s believed to own in the 5500 block of Newcastle Lane in Calabasas.
According to police, Hamid Mirshojae was walking to his vehicle in the parking lot of his Woodland Hills medical clinic at about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 23. When he approached the driver’s side of his vehicle, “a masked man emerged from hiding around the corner of the clinic and ran toward him,” police said in a statement. “From a close distance, the suspect fired at Dr. Mirshojae in an ambush-style attack and then immediately fled back toward the rear of the clinic away from the scene.”
Police said last month that they believe the people arrested so far in the case “conspired to commit murder, culminating in the ambush and subsequent demise of Dr. Mirshojae.”
“It should be noted that the investigation remains ongoing, including determining the relationship some of the involved may have shared with the victim,” the LAPD said then.
It was unclear if the District Attorney’s Office plans to seek the death penalty against any of the three defendants charged with murder.
Outside court after Ahang Mirshojae’s first court appearance last month, defense attorney Donald Marks told reporters, “I believe that Ms. Mirshojae is innocent and, secondly, I believe that the evidence will show that she did not commit these crimes.”
He said his client was “very much so” surprised by her arrest.
Recent Comments