Tyrese Haspil, former assistant to Pathao co-founder Fahim Saleh, has been convicted of murdering his boss in a high-end New York apartment in July 2020.
Haspil’s defence that he had acted out of "unconditional love" for his girlfriend, whom he had been trying to impress, was rejected by the jury on Monday, reports the New York Post.
Found guilty of first-degree murder, Haspil, 25, faces a life sentence for killing and dismembering Fahim, 33.
Prosecutors said Haspil’s motive had been to cover up his theft of $400,000 from Fahim, which he had used to fund his lavish lifestyle.
The jury at Manhattan Supreme Court needed just three hours to reach a guilty verdict on all charges.
What happened that day?
Haspil incapacitated Fahim with a Taser and then fatally stabbed him in his $2.4 million seventh-floor condo on East Houston Street.
Using an electric saw, Haspil dismembered Fahim and placed the body parts in plastic bags, which were discovered throughout the apartment by police, according to prosecutors.
During the month-long trial, Haspil admitted to killing his former mentor Fahim, a venture capitalist and CEO of the Nigeria-based scooter company Gokada.
Evidence showed Haspil riding the elevator with Fahim just before the murder. Fahim joked with Haspil, who was wearing a dark, plastic face shield with a baseball cap and sunglasses, about taking Covid-19 precautions seriously.
Pathao’s Fahim Saleh left behind $6mAfter getting off the elevator, "I Tased him in the back. I remember Tasing him in the back," Haspil testified. "I took out a knife and I started aiming for his neck."
"What are you doing?" Haspil recalled Saleh’s last words during his testimony.
Motive
Haspil’s public defenders had argued that he had committed the murder under "extreme emotional disturbance," driven by his desire to impress his French exchange student girlfriend with expensive gifts.
They claimed Haspil feared she would leave him if she discovered his embezzlement.
The defence had urged the jury to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter instead of premeditated murder, but the jury unanimously convicted Haspil of first-degree murder on Monday.
Haspil faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for September 10.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that he hoped the conviction would provide some comfort to Saleh’s family.
Bragg noted that Saleh had come from a close-knit immigrant family and become a successful entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, Haspil’s attorney Sam Roberts said Haspil felt genuine remorse for the killing and hoped this would be considered during sentencing.
Fahim Saleh: A kinship with BangladeshRoberts emphasized that Haspil was more than the sum of his worst actions and said he was calm and understanding when hearing the verdict.
“He remains a young man who is trying to make sense of these terrible acts committed four years ago, including understanding the pain he has caused, and expressing genuine remorse for what he did.”
Fahim Saleh co-founded the ride-sharing and delivery service Pathao.
He was also co-founder and CEO of Gokada, a motorcycle ride-sharing service based in Nigeria.
Fahim was also a founding partner in the Manhattan-based venture capital fund Adventure Capital, which invested in similar transit start-ups in Colombia and Bangladesh.
