KIRKLAND, Wash. — King County prosecutors say a man stabbed two women dozens of times each in retaliation for one reporting that he had allegedly sexually assaulted them.
One of those women died from her injuries.
According to police, the stabbing happened around 11 p.m. Sept. 4 at the Kirkland Heights Apartments on NE 132nd Street.
A woman called 911, saying she and her mother had been stabbed by someone who broke in. The woman said there was “blood every where” and dispatchers heard sounds of someone groaning in pain in the background of the call, according to court documents.
The 54-year-old woman who called 911 was stabbed about 40 times, according to court documents. Her 78-year-old mother was stabbed around 17 times, docs said.
The 78-year-old woman was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center.
The woman who called 911 was able to say what sounded like the name “Farvin” to dispatchers.
Investigators were able to quickly pull up previous incidents at that apartment involving a 60-year-old Fardin Salehiyan. In July, there was a domestic violence call involving the 54-year-old and Salehiyan, court documents said.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputies were able to find Salehiyan shortly after the stabbing. When they detained him, deputies said he had “obvious blood all over his clothing” and “apparent blood” on his car, according to court docs.
From her hospital bed, the woman who survived the attack spoke with detectives about what happened.
According to court documents, she was watching videos in her room when Salehiyan barged in with a knife. He began stabbing her dozens of times and said: “you can’t call the police. You ruined my life because you called the police,” court documents said.
The day before the knife attack, the woman had come forward to police to report that Salehiyan had allegedly sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Less than 12 hours before the attack, a detective contacted Salehiyan to tell him of the investigation into the allegations of sexual assault.
When the woman’s mother began screaming during the attack, the victim said Salehiyan went for her next, according to court documents.
“She stated that after Salehiyan said ‘you ruined my life,’ all he said was ‘goodbye,’ and left,” the police report recounts.
The 54-year-old told her brother that Salehiyan had “serious problems” and “was not a stable person,” and that he was dangerous and had threatened her, court documents said. Her brother said she had voiced concerns and wanted to go back to Iran because she did not feel safe with him.
Salehiyan has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.
Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $10 million “based on the likelihood that the defendant will fail to appear in response to a summons, and the likelihood that he may commit a violent offense.”
Salehiyan has no known criminal history, according to prosecutors.
“Furthermore, there is some evidence that these crimes were committed in an attempt to avoid prosecution on another offense. If the defendant is willing to commit murder in order to avoid facing justice, he would certainly be willing to flee,” court documents said.
Salehiyan is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 12.
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