Stalker kills woman, husband in Seattle home

A woman and her husband have been shot dead in their suburban Seattle home by an online stalker, according to Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe.

As per details, the tragic incident occurred before 2:00 am Friday.

The suspect also killed himself at the couple’s home after breaking in through a bedroom window, according to police officials.

The suspect, identified as Ramin Khodakaramrezaei (38), was a long-haul truck driver from Texas who became obsessed with the software engineer after meeting her through a social media chatroom app.

The 38-year-old man killed the woman, her husband and himself after stalking them for months, police said.

The woman’s mother was inside the house during the shootings, but she was unharmed. She called the police around 1:45 am after escaping the home and running to a neighbour’s house.

Reportedly, the victim Zohreh Sadeghi (33) had sought a protection order against the suspect earlier this month, but it had not been served because authorities could not locate Ramin.

Officers spent a week trying to serve a protection order on Khodakaramrezaei, said authorities.

In a written statement, the police department said that the suspect began communicating with Zohreh after listening to her podcasts.

Khodakaramrezaei befriended Sadeghi in late 2021. Lowe said the two met up in person last summer before the contacts escalated into harassing phone calls.

At one point the suspect showed up at their home unwanted with flowers, said officials.

As the stalker’s behaviour intensified, Police filed a complaint against him for stalking and telephone harassment on March 2.

Lowe clarified that the two became acquainted because he heard her in an audio chatroom on the app Clubhouse.

“This is the absolute worst outcome for a stalking case,” Police Chief said at a media briefing, adding that “This is every victim, every detective, every police chief’s worst nightmare”.