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Crime Stoppers
Gelareh Bagherzadeh was shot outside of her home in Houston on Jan. 16. Her killing remains unsolved.
Four months after Iranian-born medical researcher and activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh was gunned down in her car just yards away from her family’s home in west Houston, authorities are hoping the offer of a sizable cash reward will help solve her killing.
At a press conference Tuesday, the Houston chapter of Crime Stoppers announced it was increasing a cash reward to $200,000 for information leading to an arrest or charges in the case. It’s the largest cash reward ever offered for a Crime Stoppers tip not only in Houston, but in the nation.
“We don’t want to wait for justice in this case,” said Katherine Cabaniss, executive director of Crime Stoppers of Houston.
Houston Police Sgt. J.C. Padilla said investigators still have no motive in Bagherzadeh’s slaying and haven’t ruled anything out. “The more we talk to people, the more we realize we need the community’s help,” he said.
The 30-year-old Bagherzade was shot to death Jan. 16 while in her car, just yards away from her family’s townhome in the well-to-do Galleria area. Police said at the time that Bagherzade was on her cellphone talking to her ex-boyfriend when someone outside the car shot her in the head through the passenger-side window.
Crime Stoppers
Crime scene photo of Gelareh Bagherzadeh's car, which crashed into a neighbor's garage door after she was fatally shot on Jan. 16 in Houston.
The boyfriend told police he heard a loud thud and then a screeching noise. The victim's car crashed into a neighbor’s garage door.
Bagherzadeh moved to the U.S. several years ago and was studying molecular genetic technology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Bagherzadeh was known for speaking out on behalf of Iranian women’s civil rights. She was an active member of SabzHouston, a Houston-based group that was formed to protest the 2009 election results in Iran. The group contends the results, which declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the landslide winner, were a sham.
Bagherzade's slaying is perplexing because her purse and other belongings were left untouched in the car, and she had no known enemies.
Police have said there’s no evidence she was shot because of her Iranian activism, but that hasn’t stopped a slew of unsubstantiated rumors from surfacing online that she was assassinated -- by Iranian government agents, by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency or by some other nefarious group.
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“It has been four months since my sister was senselessly killed behind our house," Ali Bagherzadeh, the victim’s brother, said at Tuesday's press conference. "As a community we should be outraged at the loss of a talented and beautiful person."
The previous largest reward offered by Crime Stoppers was $100,000 for tips in the 2003 bludgeoning deaths of four young people in the Clear Lake area, also in Houston. Someone came forward in 2006 with a tip that helped solve that case, Cabaniss said.
"The cash reward in that case was offered for three years. The significance of that is that we recognize that sometimes it takes time for the person who knows who the shooter is to make the phone call that solves the case," Cabaniss told msnbc.com. “We are hoping that in this case it doesn't take years for justice to be served. We remind the person who knows who the shooter is that one phone call today is worth $200,000. One name, one shooter, $200,000.”
Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit group that offers cash rewards to people who provide anonymous tips that lead to an arrest of people responsible for a crime. The first Crime Stoppers program was formed in 1976 in Albuquerque, N.M. Today, there are Crime Stoppers programs across the U.S. and around the world.
The organization says that it has paid more than $92 million in rewards and that its tips have led to nearly 612,000 arrests.
Anyone who has any information about the Bagherzadeh case is urged to call the Crime Stoppers hot line at (713) 222-8477 or submit tips online at www.crimestoppers.org. Tips can also be sent by text message: text TIP610 plus your tip to CRIMES (274637). All tipsters remain anonymous.
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Leave a Comment:
She is very pretty.
How could anyone have the heart to kill such a pretty lady... unless its jealousy or assassination.
It was in the gun-worshipping state of Texas -- obviously someone who was just "standing their ground."
How about a reward for Iranians that kill Americans?
Most likely a Muslim that decided this was an honor killing as she was speaking out of place , against their beliefs.
Her attractiveness is irrevelant...she was fighting for the rights of women....we need more women like her, not less....May the find this anti-woman coward that killed her...
jackadope;
Say's the Nanny state sissy. Next time someone kicks in your door do run away and call for help. We'll all seen how well that works in the big city, hundreds of people look, video you with their phones, posting it on you tube and do nothing. I'll take a gun and a fighting chance every time over 911 aka, "dial a prayer" and hoping some thug doesn't kill me and my entire family to steal my TV and money for drugs, before the cops can come to "save" us.
As for this poor woman's assailants, they have to look no further than the Islamic extremists at the nearest Mosque. Her views and activism surely would have lite a fire under some of those backward Neanderthals, Since they view women as something less than cattle. Getting anyone in the Muslim community to talk is quite another matter. Once they get the money up to around a cool Mil, then maybe one of them will rat out their brethren. But, I doubt it. They will likely pin this on some poor ignorant reject labeling him a racist, separatist, supremacist, skin head, redneck, suvivalist, or some other inaccurate and largely made up leftist title. It couldn't possibly have been someone from the NOA, or the NBPP. Even though they too view women as third or fourth class citizens.
Your comment is laughable. Nicodemass you sound like a scared little man.
Jackalope,
Please change your name, it belongs to Texas.
Sorry floyd, Dick Cheney shot all the Texas jackalopes.
Quite obvious it was Iranian agents, Ill bet everything on it. I also wouldnt be surprised if she she had some sort of big activist event coming up in the next few months. Why else would they leave everything?
If it was a jealous ex, I doubt they would do it in the open in plain view of the neighbors, too risky that someone would see or even recognize them.
Most foreign women are very gorgeous and actually know how to cook..
Wake up America...of course it was another muslim honor killing! She was educated, outspoken and naturally that is against all that the koran prescribes, and additionally had just broken up with her boyfriend, so of course muslim law decries that she must be killed. Only another in the sad, hideous killings of the muslim culture, the hate filled, cruel religious coulture that the USA is afraid to confront and prohibit!
Well there is certainly no shortage of violence in this country, nor anti-Islamic sentiment, but any time an Iranian activists gets killed it’s a fair bet that it was at the hand or the Iranian government. And even if someone else saved them the trouble there is someone high up in the government over there scratching her name of a list at this very moment. As for the moron who suggested an Israeli hit all I can say is you need to get back on your medication as soon as possible so the voices in your head will stop. Why on earth would the Israelis waste time and resources to kill someone who is a thorn in the side of the Iranian government? Riddle me that Sherlock?
22 illegals were stopped before they reached the United States borders according to a friend of mine who has a son that flies choppers for the Border Patrol. Not so unusual right? Except none of the 22 were of Mexican decent. All from the middle east. Funny, I don't remember reading about that nor hearing of it. Wonder why? I know, the young man is a liar and it never happened.
No known enemy's? If she was speaking out against Iran she had plenty. I agree with some of the post above. It took a real coward to shoot a woman.
purse and other belongings were left untouched in the car, and she had no known enemies.
Other than the Iranian government.....
This Texan wants JUSTICE for the victim and her family. RIP
1 deleted, 420 Frees the Mind extrapolation-trolling all Jews, calling for the expulsion of all Jews from America. Very off-topic. You're suspended for a month for violating #4 and #5 of the Code of Honor.
Yes! The Jewish hit squds. I was in a McDonalds last week, minding my own business, eating a hamburger and in walked a Jewish hit squad. There were four of them. They looked Jewish.
I didn't make eye contact. I just finished my hamburger and coke, quickly, and I got up and bought one of those apple pie desserts. After I finished my apple pie dessert, I walked out the door, stepping over several dead bodies that were laying on the ground. I don't think those bodies were there when I walked in.
There are some things you don't talk about.
"They" know where you live.
Funny, I was in a seafood restaurant last week and it was full of Jewish hit squids!
They had to sneak in as shrimp are not kosher.
They don't roll on shabbos.
Shalom Jacka...Rachel and denver
That's 'cause McD's doesn't use KOSHER pickles!
Nah, it was some ignorant redneck hater from Texas.........that state is full of them and they have guns.
Nah, it was probably a rejected muslim suitor
Oh, you must be talking about me. Yup, Texas is a big ole desert with us rednecks having to fend off attacks by the Comanche and Apache, all the while getting ready for the next big cattle drive up to Kansas. Of course, we got our trusty six shooters, hell we wear em to the saloon and have gunfights out in the street just about every day, have to be tough cos them Union Calvary boys take so long to get here.
Now who is ignorant, you retarded trailer trash?
blah blah blah blah im a texan C*&K S*K$@ balh blah blah balh
Kathryn Sullivan,
It would be a much better world if only women were armed, wouldn't it?
"Now who is ignorant, you retarded trailer trash?"
You're a real piece of work, D McMillen, and one could possibly infer by your statement that you are "Texas trash".
Yeah, she was very pretty
Been close to Iran and live nearby Iranians as well as others like her here in Chi-town. Very sad. I say Iranian government agents are somehow behind this. Don't think Isreal.
There you go at the answer, intelligence at last. 60 Minutes here is some material.......
"Yeah, she was very pretty." Beauty has nothing to do with it. Would you care less if she were ugly?
Her death is sad and useless, those / he / she that did it should be found and prosecuted under that law.
What I find disturbing in this article is this quote:
For me, it is even sadder that this mentality exists.
You're most likely taking the quote out of context. I suppose it could be read the way you are implying but I'm rather confident that she is expressing her desire for the culprit to be apprehended quickly and for justice to be served in the near future rather than years down the road. The article did include another incident where it took three years before someone phoned in a tip that lead to an arrest. If I may, I'd suggest observing something (a quote in this case) from a variety of perspectives before jumping to a conclusion and passing judgement as it were.
Her ex was fortunate to be on the phone with her at the time. Ex boyfriends are typically high on the list of "persons of interest", when a murder has occurred.
Maybe he planned it that way?
Why does her death warrant a $200,000 reward? Was her life any more important than anyone else's or is it to just draw attention that it may have been done in retaliation of her views? I'm sorry for the loss of her life but I hope the Texas authorities are not investigating this on one idea only. All crimes are not hate or political crimes.
Look at the statistics of murdered women, overwhelmingly women are murdered by males & high on the list are males that knew the victim. Calling it like it is.
Stevel most likely the ex boyfriend was the planner and executioner of someone who spurned him, totally typical of muslim culture, and his friends/relatives/ etc/ did the deed while he was on the phone making certain it was handled correctly. The hate filled, cruel culture of islam demands this kind of justice to statisfy the writings of the koran...
yea, right jack. i'm sure you're a regular reader of the koran.
I think her ex boyfriend probably knows more than he is revealing. Who else would know when she would be where?
Anyone who scouted her routine. It wouldn't be that hard to do.
My money would be on agents of the Iranian government out to assassinate prominent Iranians in the US speaking out and against Iran. I sure there are many of them in the US. It wouldn't be Israeli agents, their busy assassinating Iranians in Iran. Either that or her ex. There is always some pissed off ex somewhere about.
Wow,think of the list of suspect profiles.black,white,and ME men,and women.
Narrow that list to males & you are on the right track. Males are hands down the winners in the category of most likely to commit violence against another, no matter whether the victim is male or female. Males have extreme difficulty controlling their emotions and feelings without resorting to violence.
Did you see the mom who killed her four kids story today?
"Narrow that list to males & you are on the right track. Males are hands down the winners in the category of most likely to commit violence against another, no matter whether the victim is male or female. Males have extreme difficulty controlling their emotions and feelings without resorting to violence."
While I do agree that the ex or current boyfriend had something to do with it in this case. What is the leading cause or the reason that males compete and fight? Could it be that we are fighting over WOMEN? Why is there always an EX? Why do women have such fickle hearts and leave men all the time? Why do women play around with men's emotions, try to get them to be jealous, and then not expect men to do anything? Why do women love to have men fight over them?
I know there are men kissing your butt, but have some sense. Most men do not think you are smart, funny, wish you would talk much less, wish you would leave them alone, and do not want to be your friend. The only thing most men really want is sex, they will say and do anything to get it once or twice. They are even willing to pay money, take you out to dinner, movies, etc. to try and bribe you out of it. Why are most women dumb enough to believe the B.S. that most men try to fill their heads with? "But we are just friends"...sure that is how it always starts. How many male "friends" percentage wise have you not slept with eventually?
"Violence is the supreme authority from which all other authority is derived" The winner makes the rules even if there are "wrong". Is there anyway to bring this women back to life now? Nope. Unless you can neuter or take the aggression out of all the men around the world at once history will repeat itself. As the men of a country become more "civilized" and less aggressive, the weaker they will become. Then when the Huns, Vikings, etc. come to conquer and there are no "men" left to fight. The men are killed and the women get raped (is that not the story behind most romance novels?), but most women live on. Why kill off something that you can force to cook, clean, have sex with, etc.? Women will slowly, but surely take back over through the generations, and neuter the men that conquered them eventually. Then those men will be killed off by another group of men...another cycle of stupidity.
And just because "males" are the most likely does not mean we should "narrow" the list down to just them. According to the odds it could still be a women could it not? You should change your name to Lilith or narrow minded selfish feminist.
There, I made it less sexist for you.
Not Mossad. Iran. And Mossad isn't "nefarious". I wish US intelligence worked as well as Israel's Mossad does!
I suspect that Mossad had a part in 9/11 and I'm not alone. They were seriously losing face before that, with Time Magazine cover of Palestinian man holding his dead child's body after a stone throwing incident. It worked miracles for them, let's face it.
@ molly, the truth is out there.. youtube video of the plane that hit the towers, and the Pentagon.. Look carefully @ the 2nd plane that hits the tower,. You'll notice it has NO color markings of a commercial plane nor do commercial planes have 2 protruding bumps underneath the belly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhROd7Jt3-w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3AwEz0K-UI&feature=related
Only planes that carry missiles look like that. Oh and they are military gray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yofGi90b3A4
or this nugget, no plane, a missile.
So the passengers aboard got what they deserved, sneaking aboard a military plane? Or worse yet a missile.
420, you're an idiot who demeans the memory of those who died in the Muslim attack of 911, which Osama bin Laden CLAIMED.
@rachel-3673200
Of course bin Laden claimed the attack. Even if he wasn't responsible, considering the success the attacks had on America (including both the number of lives lost and the crushing blow to our sense of security) he would have been out of his mind to not have claimed them. If nothing else, it was an immense morale boost for all of his followers. Now, so there is no mistake I'll go ahead and state that I am in no way agreeing with 420. Personally, I'm more inclined to ask him what brand of aluminum foil he used to construct his hat. I can claim to be the Queen of England but it doesn't make it so.
@Rachel, Put the TV remote down, get off the couch, and smell the propaganda. Osama Bin Laden did not claim responsibility for 9/11...he denied it...And then a look-a-like comes out a year later and claims responsibility. Go do your homework. Dumbed down sheeple like you will believe anything a tele-prompter reading twinkie tells them.
All things considered (and why on Earth would Mossad kill her?) I'd take a second look at her ex boyfriend, who knew where she was and might not have been so happy about being an ex.
Drones. Swift death from the air. Hover here, hover there ... bang bang you're dead. No muss, no fuss, no judges. It's gaining popularity as the preferred way of dealing with enemies of the state.
Pretty clear this was a hit. To admit that though would be to admit that there are Iranian government agents roaming around the US undetected. We know that isn't going to happen don't we. Kinda like that third accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing that they were searching for and then they weren't. Or maybe the TWA bombing over New York that wasn't really a bombing. This story will end some case of mistaken identity and the killer will forever remain unknown....RIP
Smells like an honor killing. Fishy.
Take a hard look at the ex boyfriend and his connections.
right. The X is suspect number one, then his family then the boyfriend.There could be another suspect. Where was G W BUSH?
Perhaps it was the CIA to fabricate another excuse to attack Iran exactly like the phony attempt to assasinate the Saudi ambassador.
Yeah, it's ALWAYS an American or Israeli conspiracy, isn't it? Israelis are f*ckin' omnipotent, aren't they?
This is disgusting...let me guess, some man who was big on hating women felt all threatened because this woman was fighting for rights that should already be afforded....ugh...Can you imagine women killing men because men wanted equal rights? IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN....I am so sick of the war on women...Ladies, continue to fight the good fight.!!! That goes for the gays and lesbians too!!! Equal rights for all!!!!!!!
Muslims...go figure!
People named Jay...go figure!
Some commented on how pretty, she was. Have you noticed how educated she was? Who would have benefit from her death? A real good investigation could solve this one. However, if it had to do with her Iranian activism, it may never be solved. Looks like an asassination/execution. If it was the ex-boyfriend, they would have had him by now, because they usually leave some evidence behind. Looks like a professional hit.
An educated , outspoken and attractive woman is a threat to all Sharia law proponents !
No property taken and shot through the car window !
I think you've nailed it !
So what if it is noticed how pretty she was? Seriously?
Who cares?
A fellow citizen working to improve the world is murdered and you don't care ?
What kind of human being are you ?
"Police have said there’s no evidence she was shot because of her Iranian activism"
Oh, yeah, and there's no evidence that she wasn't either. People always forget that other little side of the equation.
"and she had no known enemies"
If she was an activist against the Islamic regime in Iran and was touting women's rights, right off hand I can name 1.5+- billion enemies. But, then, police are not known for their high IQ's. However, they do a very good job at shooting unarmed mentally handicapped people, munching doughnuts, chasing high school girls, stopping elderly black people and striving to keep their cult intact.
Being MSN, I knew they'd have to throw Mossad in just for good measure. Utterly no logical reason to do so, but, hey, let's throw 'em in just to appease the usual conspiracy speculators. Yeah, right, Mossad did it. Ha. Somehow it just HAS to be the fault of the US or Israel, right, cretins? Hey, why not throw in ancient aliens and bigfoot too?
If, by some unfortunate circumstance, she's Muslim, a hard look at the ex-boyfriend would in order. Yeah, I know she was talking to him on the phone, but he probably has friends and family.
And, seriously, why is Mossad "nefarious"? I'd say that they're direct and honest and they take care of the necessary business that most others don't have the courage to take care of. Go, Mossad! Go, Israel!
Molly, did you see the followup on that photo. A French film crew was indicted over it. The child was not shot by Israeli's. There was another such recently, involving Khulood Badawi who happens to work for the OCHA – the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as an Information and Media Coordinator. Ms. Badawi posted a photo of a bloodied child and claimed she was the victim of Israeli violence. In fact the photo was exposed as fake (the girl was injured in a building collapse). Similarly, you can check on the Reuter's photographer who faked by photoshopping a non-existent air strike by Israeli's on a town in Lebanon. Along with staging photos in the rubble (the same old woman was "killed or injured" in several of the photos of different sites and the same child's bunny placed in the rubble). Check it all out for yourself before you jump to conclusions. Remember the mentality of suicide bombers and organizations whose charter calls for the murder of every Jew (don't take my word, look it up yourself). Remember that in 1948, as soon as the State of Israel was established, they pledged to pave the road from Damascus to Tel Aviv with the skulls of Jewish Children. Remember that there have been three subsequent unified Arab attempts to destroy Israel. Remember Israel exchanged land for peace with Egypt. Remember that thousands (not exaggeration again) of missiles were fired into Israel for nearly ten years before they retaliated. Remember how small the number of Palestinian casualties in that retaliation and how few were civilians. Compare that to blowing up a wedding party, throwing elementary children out of the top floor of a school, celebrating as a hero a man who slit the throat of a Jewish infant and murdered the parents in their sleep. Consider that when an Israeli attacked Palestinians unprovoked, he was arrested, tried, and imprisoned by the Israeli government and contrast that to the Palestinians celebrating murderers of children as heroes. Remember that the Palestinians danced in the streets in celebration of the murder of over 2,500 innocent Americans on 911 by religions extremists. Remember that the Palestinians had their own SS brigade in WWII and fought for the Nazis. Remember that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem started wholesale murder of Jews and any Palestinian who lived in peace with them, in 1928. And he also was Adolph Eichmann's close friend and confidant, spent WWII in Germany, and was one of the main authors of the "Final Solution" then returned to Egypt to a hero's welcome, assassinated the King of Jordan, and groomed his Nephew, one Yassar Arafat, to continue his hate campaign. Put it all in perspective. Are the Israeli's perfect, NO, but are they the evil you try to make them out to be, most definitely not. Ask yourself this, what other Country in the world would not respond immediately to bombardment or missile attack. How many suicide attacks would the U.S. endure before retaliating. Would the U.S. return lands won in war?
Remember that you are completely brainwashed by the media, remember that you are a racist
abby81 doesn't know her a$$ from a hat
You can bet it was someone tied to Ahmadinejad or the hard core religious council he took his orders from. Or most likely The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
You can bet it was a Martian or some reptile-like creature from deep inside the Earth. Or most likely The Army of the Guardian Angles of the Bermuda Triangle.
I would look at both her family, and the family of the ex-boyfriend. More specifically, I would look to see if her father had, at some point, tried to arrange a marriage for her, and then look at *that* family.
Of course, blame it on her father and an arranged marriage, can't think of anything else right?
The FED's were probably behind it, they seem to know everything about everyone, using the patriot act anyone is game friend or foe.
The reward is obviously to stir up muslim hatred. Mind you i'm not a muslim, but i know plenty and they don't act the vile way some of you on here describe. Maybe try getting out more, perhaps? You people scare so easily. Look out for the muslim boogeyman. Personally i don't fear muslims, i fear going to the corner convenience store where i'm always hit up for change!
The media has made the word "muslim" a bad word, by way of government shills because they are trying to start ANOTHER WAR, this time with Iran...America loves it some war! Of course, war = profit.
Btw, If you think what the muslims do to people is bad, open up the bible and read the first five chapters...HOLY SMOKES!
Gee, I can't image who, especially after an Iranian agent attempted to kill the Saudi Ambassador in Washington D. C. and the president and his posse did nothing about it. I guess the Iranians have little fear of the Obama speak loudly and do nothing gang.