D.A. Bragg announces sentencing of assistant in brutal 2020 Lower East Side murder of tech CEO

Photos from July 2020 by Stacie Joy 

A personal assistant who was convicted of murdering his former boss in his East Houston Street home after embezzling $400,000 from him was sentenced on Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison.

Manhattan D.A. Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced the sentencing of Tyrese Haspil in the brutal July 2020 slaying of tech CEO Fahim Saleh in his condo on the SW corner of Houston and Suffolk. Haspil, 25, was also ordered to pay restitution for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Saleh's companies. 

Haspil was convicted on all charges, including Murder in the First Degree and two counts of Grand Larceny, in a New York State Supreme Court trial this past June. 

Beginning in May 2018, Haspil worked as Saleh's entrepreneurial assistant, handling financial tasks. Over the following months, he executed a series of elaborate embezzlement schemes. By creating fake accounts and entities, Haspil stole increasing amounts of money, eventually totaling nearly $400,000. 

Despite catching wind of one fraudulent scheme in early 2020, Saleh, showing mercy, offered Haspil a repayment plan instead of pursuing legal action. Haspil continued stealing and ultimately devised a plan to murder his boss to avoid facing criminal charges. (Press reports claimed that Haspil was worried his girlfriend would find out about the stolen money and leave him.) 

On July 13, 2020, Haspil ambushed Saleh in his apartment after a planned attack involving a Taser and a knife. After killing him, Haspil attempted to cover up the crime by dismembering the body and disposing of evidence. His actions were discovered when Saleh's cousin, concerned after not hearing from him for a day, entered his apartment and made the grisly discovery. 

Haspil was arrested four days later at an Airbnb, where he was celebrating his girlfriend's birthday. According to the DA's office, his PayPal embezzlement continued right up until his capture.

"While today’s sentence won't bring Mr. Saleh back, I hope it provides his family a sense of closure as they continue to mourn his painful loss," Bragg said in a statement.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Body of dismembered, decapitated man found inside residence on Houston and Suffolk

Reports: Police arrest former personal assistant in murder of tech CEO

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Police have a suspect in custody for the murder and dismemberment of tech CEO Fahim Saleh in his apartment on Houston and Suffolk Monday.

The New York Times has more on the suspect, identified as Saleh's former personal assistant.

Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, was expected to be charged in a criminal complaint with second degree murder and other crimes.

Detectives believe that the motive for the killing stemmed from Mr. Saleh having discovered that the assistant had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from him, despite the fact that Mr. Saleh had not reported the man and had set up what amounted to a repayment plan for him to return the money, one of the officials said.

Saleh was found decapitated and dismembered on Tuesday. Police offices yesterday said that Saleh was stabbed to death. According to the NYPD and published reported, Saleh used a key fob to select his seventh-floor residence in the elevator Monday afternoon. Surveillance footage shows a man wearing black and carrying a bag following him on and acting like he selected a different floor.

When they arrived on the seventh floor, the man followed Saleh, possibly knocking him out with a taser.

Police believe the killer was interrupted at the scene by Saleh's sister, who had come to the building to check on her brother.

Updated 7/18:

Gothamist has a summary of the arrest and charges here. Haspil was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He was held without bail after his arraignment early today.

Updating: Body of dismembered, decapitated man found inside residence on Houston and Suffolk

[Photos by Stacie Joy]

Story is updated at the bottom of this post. On July 17, police arrested the victims former personal assistant in the crime.

Media and police sources are reporting that the body of a decapitated, dismembered man in his 30s was found inside an apartment at 265 E. Houston St. on the corner of Suffolk.



Per the Post:

An electric saw was found near the body, which was described as a man in his 30s. The victim’s legs and arms were completely removed, and body parts were found in plastic bags found in the apartment, the sources said.

And from NBC 4...

Senior law enforcement officials tell me the body was discovered when a family member performed a welfare check on them. Firefighters from 28 Engine responded in and made the grisly discovery. The members looked shaken when they exited the building. https://t.co/PgJTlC3xAi

— 𝐌𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐍. 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 (@MylesMill) July 14, 2020

The 10-floor building, completed in 2017, features units ranging from $2.45 million to $2.55 million, per previous real-estate listings.



Updated 6:45 p.m.


[Leslie Feinberg]

EVG correspondent Stacie Joy spoke to Leslie Feinberg, who owns Subject bar across Suffolk Street. Feinberg says that she saw the following transpire at around 3:30 p.m.: "a young woman, maybe late teens or early 20s sitting in the lobby crying, talking to about five or six officers. She was in there for about 30 to 45 minutes before a team of 20-plus law enforcement officers arrived and loaded her into a vehicle and took off."

The woman was identified by police and media sources as the victim's sister, who went to check on her brother after not hearing from him.

A police sergeant at the scene told Stacie that the "preliminary investigation is ongoing, looking to review video cameras, and the crime scene is still being processed." He confirmed that "a male torso was found in the apartment unit with his head, arms and legs removed."







Updated 9:45 p.m.

Details from the account in the Times. The 33-year-old victim was also believed to be the owner of the condo unit.

As for the grisly crime scene:

When detectives began investigating, they found the man’s torso and an electric saw nearby, two of the officials said. The man’s head and limbs were later found in the apartment, a Police Department spokesman said.

There were several plastic bags nearby, and it appeared that some effort had been made to clean up the evidence of what had happened, one of the officials said.

The man, Fahim Saleh (see updates below), was last seen alive in video surveillance on Monday afternoon. And the police have it least one lead:

One of the law enforcement officials said a surveillance camera had captured video of the victim on the elevator with another person who was wearing a black suit and a black mask.

On the video, the elevator door opens and victim goes into the apartment, the official said. The masked person follows the victim, going in right behind him, and the two immediately start to struggle, the official said.

Updated 7/15

The Daily Mail reported that the victim was Fahim Saleh, a millionaire tech entrepreneur who moved into his the seventh-floor residence late last year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fahim Saleh (@fahims) on Apr 26, 2020 at 2:34pm PDT

Background on Saleh via the Mail:

His LinkedIn profile reveals the former website developer was the CEO of a motorbike hailing company in Lagos, Nigeria.

The firm, Gokada, recently faced severe setbacks after being banned earlier this year by the Nigerian government.

It was forced to lay off staff and pivot from being a ride-sharing service to a delivery courier.

The ban came at a difficult moment for Gokada which had just raised $5.3 million in funding from Rise Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, in May 2019.

Media outlets have described the suspect as a professional killer. He was reportedly also carrying a suitcase on the elevator. Police believe that the victim's sister may have interrupted the dismembering of Saleh's body. "Detectives are also looking to see if the killer was able to escape through another exit," per the Mail.

Updated July 19

Police have arrested Saleh's personal assistant, who is expected to be charged in the murder.

According to the Times, the assistant is Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21.

Detectives believe that the motive for the killing stemmed from Mr. Saleh having discovered that the assistant had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from him, despite the fact that Mr. Saleh had not reported the man and had set up what amounted to a repayment plan for him to return the money, one of the officials said.

Report: Arrest made in Avenue D murder

The Villager has an update on the murder of 23-year-old Malik Campbell last Friday outside 118 Avenue D at Eighth Street.

On Saturday, police arrested Rashawn Taylor, 18, a resident in the Smith Houses. He is charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, The Villager reports.

The NYPD did not cite of motive in the shooting. However, a super who works nearby "blamed the shooting on rivalries between groups of young men living in different public-housing developments along the East River."

As for Campbell:

“Everyone is just sick about it,” said the victim’s grandmother Irma Campbell, who said she helped raise Malik and his identical twin brother, Eli, in Haven Plaza, a block of subsidized housing located off Avenue C at 12th St.

Malik grew up in Haven Plaza with his parents and attended the Earth School on Avenue B and East Side Community High School on E. 12th St.

His grandmother described him as a “good kid, very polite and caring,” though she conceded he had run afoul of the law recently. At the time of the shooting, he was on probation for a low-level drug offense — “pot and pills,” she said.

Report: 'Creepy ex' had stalked his one-time girlfriend before killing her on Cooper Square

According to published reports, a jealous one-time boyfriend shot and killed Elizabeth Lee yesterday morning as she docked her Citi Bike near Cooper Union. Lee, a mother of two, was 56.

The man, identified as Vincent Verdi, 62, then shot himself in the face. He is listed in critical condition at Bellevue. (Police originally stated that he had died, as DNAinfo noted.)

Lee worked at the Grace School high school campus at 46 Cooper Square. She often rode a Citi Bike to work on Cooper Square from her Upper East Side apartment.

School officials expressed their grief and offered a few details in a series of tweets yesterday...

We are deeply saddened to announce the loss of a beloved colleague, Elizabeth Lee, to an unthinkable act of violence this morning. 1/ pic.twitter.com/G0DlQIuLFG

— Grace Church School (@GCSchoolNYC) November 1, 2017

Elizabeth was a dearly loved member of our community for 17 years, first as a Grace Parent, Parents' Association Chair and... 2/

— Grace Church School (@GCSchoolNYC) November 1, 2017

most recently the assistant to the Assistant Head of School. We are all heartbroken over this tragedy. 3/

— Grace Church School (@GCSchoolNYC) November 1, 2017

Details about funeral arrangements will be shared here when they are available. 4/4

— Grace Church School (@GCSchoolNYC) November 1, 2017

As the Daily News reported about Verdi:

He stalked her for months after she dumped him following a failed Match.com romance — leading her to lock in an order of protection that wasn’t enough to keep her alive.

Creepy ex Vincent Verdi was spotted by neighbors peering into Elizabeth Lee-Herman’s Upper East Side building and loitering nearby in an apparent effort to catch her alone.

He was facing stalking charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office after he was arrested Oct. 5 for threatening her.

After she broke up with him on July 7, he peppered her with emails and calls to the school where she works, court records show. He sent her chocolate and flowers. He showed up at her dentist appointment on Aug. 10.

Judge Angela Badamo issued the order barring Verdi from contacting Lee-Herman and demanded he turn over all firearms.

He spent seven days in jail and was released Oct. 12, records show.

Heartbroken to hear this terrible news. Elizabeth Lee was a gem of a lady, beautiful inside & out, & such a meaningful person at the school

— Heidi Steinberg (@heidisteinberg) November 1, 2017