A man who was suspected of stalking a couple has killed them both and then himself, in their home in Redmont, a city 15 miles east of Seattle, in Washington, according to local police.
Ramin Khodakaramrezaei, 38, reportedly entered the home of Zohreh Sadeghi and Mohammad Milad Naseri in the early morning hours of Friday and killed them both before turning the gun on himself.
The woman's mother, who was present in the home, managed to escape unharmed and called 911.
The male victim was found lying near the doorway with a gunshot wound. Officers attempted lifesaving measures, but he died at the scene.
The woman and the suspect were found dead inside the home.
Khodakaramrezaei had been the subject of a misdemeanour stalking investigation, after the female victim, Zohreh Sadeghi, 33, and her husband, Mohammad Milad Naseri, 35, filed a request for a no-contact order against him.
The couple had also been issued with a temporary protection order, after which a bench warrant was issued for Khodakaramrezaei.
In the weeks before the attack, Ms Sadeghi reported that the harassment and threats she had received had intensified.
Ms Sadeghi was a software engineer who previously worked at Promontory MortgagePath and attended the University of Washington Tacoma’s graduate and PhD programs. She worked as a researcher and web developer in Iran.
The victims had filed a request for a no-contact order against Khodakaramrezaei who had been harassing Sadeghi for months, making harassing phone calls, sending gifts, and making threats to harm her and set her house on fire, according to court documents seen by Seattle Times.
The suspected stalker had been warned by Ms Sadeghi and the police to stop contacting her, but he continued. A temporary order of protection was signed on March 3, and a hearing was scheduled for March 17.
Ms Sadeghi was also the host of a podcast that Khodakaramrezaei reportedly listened to, and the two had met on the app Clubhouse, which allows users to talk over audio chat rooms.
The chat room was specifically for Farsi speakers looking for jobs in the tech industry, according to the police.
Ms Sadeghi was born in Iran and had major back surgery, which required 24-hour care. In her petition for an order of protection, she expressed concern about her ability to respond to a crisis and stated that Khodakaramrezaei's delusions made her fear for her life and the lives of her loved ones.
In the petition for an order of protection filed by the couple in King County District Court, Ms Sadeghi wrote that she had been the victim of a months-long ordeal involving harassing phone calls and threats from Khodakaramrezaei.
She wrote that he had threatened to show up at her home and set it on fire, and would only stop contacting her if he died.
She also mentioned that the suspect had contacted her over 100 times in a single day and had sent her gifts.
She wrote that she feared for her life and the lives of her loved ones because of Khodakaramrezaei's delusions.
