As investigations continue into the gruesome murder of Gokada founder, Fahim Saleh, the Manhattan prosecutors have found a video of the suspect purchasing an electric saw.
According to the WallStreet Journal, the video surveillance recovered from a hardware store shows a man (identified as Haspil) purchasing the electric saw and cleaning supplies found near the body at the scene of the murder.
The accused has not issued a plea in the case yet, but his Legal Aid attorney Sam Roberts, said: “there is much more to the narrative than the accusations, an arrest by the police, and a charge by the district attorney.”
Tyrese Haspel was arraigned before a New York court, Saturday night, on the charge of the second degree of Fahim Saleh, founder of Gokada, whose lifeless and dismembered body was found in his apartment during the week.
Haspil’s next court appearance is slated for August 17.
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The murder
Nairametrics earlier reported that the surveillance video in the seventh-floor apartment where Saleh died showed a man dressed in black and wearing a mask enters the elevator with Mr. Saleh, and shortly after, Saleh exited an elevator that leads directly into the full-floor, two-bedroom apartment, closely followed by the masked person.
Investigators recovered a security video showing that Saleh fell to the floor after being shocked by a stun gun or a taser.
A woman told investigators that she recognized the person using the Taser in the video as Mr. Haspil, according to the criminal complaint, although the woman’s identity was withheld.
Officials arrived the scene to find Saleh’s clothed torso, bags containing a head and arms, and an electric saw in the living room of his apartment on the Lower East Side, police said.
The court papers presented by the prosecutors have it that Saleh was stabbed five times in the neck and torso and had wounds on his arm and left hand. The saw was used to dismember his body just below the knees, at both shoulders and the neck.
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Suspected motive
According to the Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison, the 21-year old Tyrese Haspil was an executive assistant of the deceased Saleh and handled his financial and personal matters
From the findings, he owed his boss a lot of money, and this supports suspicions that money could have been the motive behind the crime, although Rodney did not give details.
After the murder, Saleh’s body was dismembered and packaged in bags, with the electric saw still plugged into an outlet in the apartment, causing the police to suggest that the murderer may have been interrupted in his actions of trying to dispose the body.
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Backstory
Fahim Saleh was a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, popularly known for his tech innovations in developing countries.
He founded Gokada, Nigeria’s first bike-hailing service, in 2018.
His lifeless body was found in his apartment on Tuesday after his relative called the 911 service. Since then, investigations have been on to find Saleh’s killer. Police believe that the relative, a cousin, may have interrupted the intruder before the killer fled out a back exit.
Haspil was arrested on Friday in connection to the murder.
