The surveillance video shows the personal assistant accused of the death of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur found dismembered In her luxurious Manhattan condo, she bought the chainsaw and cleaning supplies that were left near her body, prosecutors said Saturday.
Tyrese Haspil, 21, was prosecuted just after midnight, charged with second-degree murder in the death of Fahim Saleh, whose decapitated, armless body was found Tuesday by a cousin. Haspil pleaded not guilty and his arrest was ordered without bail.
Eduardo Muñoz Álvarez / AP
Investigators have recovered the security video from Monday afternoon showing a man identified as Haspil following Saleh up the elevator to the full-floor, two-bedroom apartment and shooting him with an electric pistol, causing him to fall to the ground, according to the criminal complaint.
The masked person who followed Saleh was dressed completely in black, according to a law enforcement official who was briefed on the case but was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Temilade Adelaja / REUTERS
Video surveillance of a hardware store Tuesday morning shows a man identified as Haspil buying the saw and cleaning supplies found in the seventh-floor apartment on the Lower East Side, according to the complaint.
Haspil’s lawyers said he has had no prior contact with the criminal justice system and that “there is much more to this narrative” than the allegations and his arrest.
“We are in the early stages of discovering the truth. The life of this case promises to be long and complex. As Mr. Haspil’s attorneys, we urge the public to keep an open mind,” read a prepared statement from The Society of Lawyers Legal Aid Sam Roberts and Neville Mitchell.
Officers responding to the cousin’s 911 call discovered Saleh’s clothed torso, head and arm bags and an electric saw in the living room of his apartment on the Lower East Side, police said.
Saleh was stabbed five times in the neck and torso and had injuries to his arm and left hand. He was dismembered just below the knees, both on the shoulders and neck, according to court documents.
Haspil handled the finances and personal affairs of Saleh, whose companies included a transportation service in Nigeria, Gokada.
Saleh’s biography on LinkedIn described him as a self-taught businessman who founded Gokada, drawing on his experience of “seeing an opportunity in his parents’ home country of Bangladesh” and starting the country’s largest ride-sharing company. He said he also invested in a similar company in Colombia.
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