Prosecutor argues in trial Hossein Nayeri masterminded abduction of OC marijuana dispensary owner and carried out his torture and sexual mutilation

Hossein Nayeri masterminded the abduction of a Newport Beach marijuana dispensary owner and personally carried out the man’s torture and sexual mutilation, a prosecutor argued Wednesday, Aug. 7, during closing arguments in Nayeri’s criminal trial.

Describing Nayeri’s alleged co-conspirators – former high school classmates Kyle Handley and Ryan Kevorkian – as “morons,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy made his case to jurors that Nayeri was the brains behind the kidnapping of a dispensary owner in order to find a non-existent $1 million they wrongly believed had been buried in the desert.

Nayeri – who gained additional notoriety while awaiting trial for allegedly masterminding an escape with two other inmates from an Orange County Jail – has admitted to surveilling the dispensary owner in the months leading up to his abduction and torture, but has continually denied playing a role in the kidnapping.

“We are looking at who masterminded this thing: idiot Kyle Handley, moron Ryan Kevorkian, or the guy who pulled a Shawshank Redemption and escaped from the Orange County jail?” Murphy said. “You can’t make it up.”

Three masked men on Oct. 2, 2012, broke into the Newport Beach home where the dispensary owner – who The Orange County Register is not identifying due to the nature of the crimes – was living. The armed intruders forced the dispensary owner, along with the girlfriend of the home’s owner, into a van and drove them to the Mojave desert.

During the more than two-hour drive, two of the men – one of whom the girlfriend described as particularly sadistic – demanded money the dispensary owner told them he didn’t have while they beat and tortured him, repeatedly shocking him with a Taser, whipping him with rubber piping and burning him with a blow torch. Once they arrived in the desert, the men cut off the dispensary owner’s penis and left the man and the woman, still bound, behind.

The woman was able to free herself and find medical attention for the dispensary owner, but the missing body part was never found. Murphy noted that at a hospital soon after his mutilation, the dispensary owner told an investigator: “I don’t want to die, but it almost would have been better than what they did.”

For the first time during the trial, the prosecutor on Wednesday alleged that Nayeri was the man who cut off the dispensary owner’s penis and was the “sadistic” assailant described by the girlfriend. Handley is believed to have driven the van, Murphy said, while Kevorkian is alleged to have helped Nayeri with the torture.

Nayeri needed people he could trust to carry out the abduction, Murphy said. Had it gone as planned, the prosecutor told jurors, the three men, at least one of whom was armed, would have dug up the money they believed was buried in the desert.

“Who do you want standing next to you with a .12 gauge shotgun next to a hole in the desert?” Murphy said, noting that Nayeri had known Handley and Kevorkian for years.

Nayeri fled to Iran after Handley was arrested. His then-wife ultimately cooperated with authorities, identifying the people she claimed were involved in the abduction and convincing Nayeri to meet her in the Czech Republic, where Nayeri was arrested and extradited.

Murphy reminded jurors of Nayeri’s often-combative testimony on Monday, including what the prosecutor described as “malicious” comments when he asked why they didn’t leave the penis behind so it could be re-attached, to which Nayeri responded “you don’t deserve an answer.”

“What is he doing in the back of a van if he’s not getting what he wants?” Murphy said of Nayeri. “He’s invested 10 months into this thing and he’s not getting any money. How does this guy respond to that?”

Nayeri has testified that he was surveilling the dispensary owner at the request of Handley, who he said was owed $300,000 by the owner. Nayeri said his decision to escape from the jail while awaiting trial was due to his belief that he is being “railroaded.”

Handley has already been sentenced to four life terms behind bars for his role in the kidnapping and torture, while Kevorkian is awaiting trial.

Nayeri’s trial continues Friday at the Newport Beach courthouse, when Nayeri’s attorney is scheduled to give his own closing argument to the jury.