A student of a thief who allegedly decapitated a tech CEO's boss testified Monday that his master had questioned his appearance before the attack but did not immediately realise his life was in danger.
Tyrese Haspil, 25, was wearing a dark plastic face shield, a baseball cap and sunglasses during the fateful elevator ride with Fahim Saleh at his Lower East Side apartment in July 2020, he said on the stand in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“He commented on my outfit. He was like, are you really taking this COVID-19 thing seriously?” [personal protection equipment] “I was thinking about it seriously,” Haspil told Legal Aid Society attorney Diane Ackerman before confessing to the murders.
“He got off the elevator and I shot the Taser in his back. I remember shooting the Taser in his back,” Haspil added calmly.
“I pulled out a knife and started aiming for his neck.”
Haspil's defence team said his client was driven by “extreme emotional distress” after showering his girlfriend, a French student, with expensive gifts and trying to give the impression he was a wealthy man.
On the witness stand, Haspil was asked by his lawyer if he remembered Saleh saying anything during the brutal murder, revealing the victim's chilling final words: “What are you doing?”
Manhattan prosecutors accused Saleh, a venture capitalist and CEO of Nigeria-based scooter startup Gokada, of killing Haspil because he had embezzled $400,000 from his boss and had been threatened with criminal charges.
Haspil testified that he created a fake resume with fictitious work history, including work experience at a fake company called Pinina, and used it to get a $30-an-hour job as executive assistant to the “charismatic” and “visionary” Faleef in 2018.
He said he volunteered to work for Fare after he was fired from Moe's Southwest Grill on Long Island for embezzling $20,000.
But in September 2018, Mr Haspil met his French girlfriend, Marine Chavez, whose demands and expensive tastes became too much for him to handle on his weekly salary.
He continued to steal from Saleh, knowing that President Chavez would eventually find out that he was funding their lavish relationship on Saleh's account.
According to Haspil, he had no intention of “abandoning” his girlfriend.
“Taking his life would eliminate the need for me to retaliate against him,” Haspil testified.
“If you don't have to pay it back, you don't have to worry about missing payments. That way, you can continue to support your partner.”
Haspil has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and faces a minimum sentence of 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
His lawyers are seeking to have the charge reduced to manslaughter due to “extreme emotional instability.”
He said he killed Saleh because he was “obsessed” with making Chavez's birthday, July 19, 2020, the best day ever.
Asked under cross-examination by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Linda Ford how he planned to celebrate her birthday, he revealed he had planned a spa day, kickboxing, a sunset cruise and other outings after the alleged murder.
Haspil admitted to spending $7,349 on a Louis Vuitton backpack and trunk clutch for his designer-loving girlfriend, who even got him a custom Louis Vuitton birthday cake.
He confirmed to his lawyers that he received the receipt via email just six hours after the murder on July 13, 2020.
“Is that the same day you killed Fahim Saleh?” the lawyer asked, to which Haspil replied, “Yes.”
The trial continues on Tuesday.
