Lawyer in Mehrjouyi Murder Case Claims 'Another Instigator' is Involved

A Tehran-based newspaper reported on the anniversary of the murder of Dariush Mehrjouyi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadi Far, citing the lawyer of the victims' heirs, who claimed that another person is involved and that the four arrested suspects were merely executors of the murder plan. The Etemad newspaper alleged access to case information, stating, 'No valuable items, including laptops, cars, phones, etc., were stolen from Mehrjouyi's home.' According to the newspaper, 'Based on the deficiencies in the case, no evidence has been found indicating the suspects' presence at the crime scene, and only the trace of one suspect, who is under 18, was observed at the crime scene, which is also surrounded by ambiguities.' The newspaper also quoted 'Manoush Manouchehri,' the lawyer for the victims' heirs, stating: 'The second round of hearings for the defendants in the murder case of the late Mehrjouyi and his wife was held while, according to the Supreme Court's ruling, investigations were incomplete in three areas, and a request for further investigation was made.' The lawyer emphasized, 'There is definitely another instigator involved, and these four suspects were merely executing the orders of the instigator.' Manouchehri stressed that aside from the suspects' motives and the strong denial of one of the suspects, the absence of the murder weapon, the lack of blood traces of the late Mehrjouyi on the discovered murder weapon, and the deletion of phone applications in such a way that even the police could not recover them are among the ambiguities of the case. The murders of Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi Far were reported to the police by Mehrjouyi's daughter late on Saturday night, October 14, 2023. On October 20, 2023, Iranian media reported that a former gardener was accused of the murder of Mehrjouyi and his wife, Mohammadi Far. On January 12, 2024, the Judiciary News Agency announced the issuance of a preliminary ruling for the defendants in the murder case of Dariush Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi Far, stating that the first defendant was sentenced to 'qisas nafs' (retribution in kind) and the second and third defendants to 36 years in prison. This ruling was issued while the main defendant in the murder case of the renowned filmmaker Dariush Mehrjouyi and his wife, on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, claimed in the court session of the Alborz Criminal Court that he did not commit this murder and was forced to confess to this act. The unresolved ambiguities in the murder case of Dariush Mehrjouyi and his wife emphasize the complexity of the case, as the lawyer for the murder suspect stated: 'Perhaps the ambiguities will never be resolved.' The Supreme Court returned the Mehrjouyi murder case to the prosecutor's office; there are many unresolved ambiguities. The issuance of a preliminary ruling for the defendants in the Mehrjouyi murder case; execution for the first defendant and 36 years in prison for the other defendants. The lawyer for the victims' heirs of Mehrjouyi and Mohammadi Far emphasized the deficiencies in the case: 'I am not optimistic about the court's ruling.' The court case of the murder of Mehrjouyi and Mohammadi Far ended with contradictory statements from the defendants.