During the early hours of March 10th, at around 1:45 A.M., police in Redmond, Washington were notified about a possible shooting. When they arrived to the house, the bodies of Zohreh Sadeghi and Mohammad Milad Naseri were discovered, Fox News reported. The body of their attacker, Houston man Ramin Khodakaramrezae, was also found inside.
Zohreh Sadeghi worked as a podcaster from her home, 15 miles outside of Seattle, Washington.
“Khodakaramrezaei had reportedly listened to the female victim’s podcasts, and began communicating with her,” police said in a statement. “The victim and suspect became friends, but when things escalated, she filed a no-contact order against him.”
Khodakaramrezae began emailing and texting the victim about the tech industry, building a friendship along the way. When boundaries were crossed, and Sadeghi became uncomfortable with the content of the messages sent to her, she stopped responding. He then became obsessive, and repeatedly contacted Sadeghi, once calling her over 100 times in one day. After he began showing up to conferences Sadeghi was attending, and even to their home, they contacted local law enforcement.
On March 5th, Sadeghi and Naseri were granted a protection order against Khodakaramrezaei. Due to his job as a trucker, the suspect was difficult to locate, and the protection order against him had not been served at the time of the murder. A few days later, Khodakaramrezaei broke into their home and fatally shot them before turning the gun to himself.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and the Redmond community following this horrific tragedy,” Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe said in a statement. “This is an incredibly sad situation, and the worst possible outcome of a stalking case. We will continue investigating what led to this tragic loss.”