The crimes committed by Hossein Nayeri, 46, and his associates resemble the plot of a thrilling movie, featuring chaotic Las Vegas escapades, treasure quests, a global pursuit by authorities, and a daring prison break. 

But the horrific acts of Nayeri and company — primarily the kidnapping and maiming of a medical marijuana dispensary dealer — were starkly real.

“Regrettably, some individuals living in our society possess such extreme malice and depravity that they have to be apprehended and face consequences for their atrocious acts,” stated Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in 2019. “Nayeri is manipulative, sadistic, egotistical, narcissistic, and very intelligent, which made him a significant threat.”

Set in Newport Beach, California, the real-life story could dovetail perfectly into Oxygen’s The Real Murders of Orange County.

The kidnapping of John Doe

In the early hours of October 2, 2012, two masked gunmen forcibly entered the Newport Beach residence of a prosperous dispensary owner who has chosen to remain unnamed in the media. 

The suspects — later identified as Neyari and Kyle Shirakawa Handley— bound John Doe, as well as the victim’s roommate, Mary Barnes, and forced them into a white van. They demanded $1 million from their primary target as they made the two-hour-plus drive to the Mojave Desert and tortured John Doe, even after he explained he didn’t have the money.

During the ride, the men burned their male captive with a blow torch, electrocuted him with a taser, and used a whip to beat him.

“He was gagged, so it was mostly just muffled grunts of pain as they were hitting him,” Barnes told ABC News. “And it just seemed to go on for a very long time.”

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the men mistakenly believed John Doe had buried thousands of dollars in the desert.

“Once in the desert, the defendants [were] accused of sexually mutilating the victim by cutting off his penis,” D.A. Spitzer’s office stated. “They [were] accused of pouring bleach on the victim in an effort to destroy any evidence and dumping both zip-tied victims on the side of the road.”

Barnes was unharmed and walked nearly a mile through the desert to flag down help. Once rescued, John Doe spent “an extensive period of time” receiving hospital care.

Neyari, Handley, and a co-defendant, Ryan Kevorkian, were accused of “fleeing the scene and taking the victim’s penis with them so that it could never be reattached,” prosecutors stated. 

Naomi Josette Rhodus (formerly Naomi Kevorkian) was also charged of the crimes that left the victim “permanently disfigured.” According to The Associated Press, she was accused of supplying the men with weapons and helping them rent the van used during the crime. 

At the time of the planned attack, Kevorkian and Rhodus were husband and wife, according to CBS News.

The events leading to the crime

Orange County officials claimed that John Doe had treated “several marijuana growers” to an “extravagant and expensive” weekend in Las Vegas about one month before the kidnapping and torture. Handley, whom prosecutors said “grew and sold marijuana” to John Doe, returned from the trip and boasted of John Doe’s wealth to Nayeri and Mr. Kevorkian. 

The three men then devised the kidnapping and spent the weeks leading up to it monitoring John Doe in secret. 

Officials stated John Doe regularly traveled to the desert for investment deals, but the defendants believed he was routinely burying “large amounts of cash.”

A neighbor who had spotted a suspicious vehicle outside the victims’ home on the night of the kidnapping took down the license plate number, which was how authorities determined Handley’s involvement, according to the D.A.’s Office. 

A manhunt for Hossein Nayeri

D.A. Spitzer believed Nayeri had no intention of being caught. 

“After the kidnapping and torture, Nayeri [was] accused of fleeing the United States to Iran, where he remained for several months,” his office stated. 

However, when Neyari’s then-wife Cortney Shegerian showed up at the impound lot to retrieve the surveillance equipment, police were waiting for her, according to ABC News. Though she was initially hesitant to cooperate with authorities, Shegerian understood that she could be charged as an accomplice and eventually agreed to help them capture Nayeri, whom she arranged to meet in Spain.

Authorities arrested Nayeri on November 7, 2013, in Prague, Czech Republic, while en route to Spain. He was extradited to the U.S. a year later.

Kevorkian and Rhodus were arrested one day later in Fresno, California. 

Hossein Nayeri’s jail escape

On January 22, 2016, Spitzer’s office accused Nayeli of “masterminding an elaborate escape” from the Orange County Men’s Central Jail with two others, Bac Duong and Jonathan Tieu.

Prosecutor David McMurrin provided “numerous videos and photographs” that proved Nayeri documented months of planning. The three were accused of cutting through metal bunk beds and plumbing tunnels before rappelling off of the roof. 

“Photos on Nayeri’s phone showed Nayeri posing with a thumbs up in the jail plumbing tunnels,” according to Spitzer’s office. 

Duong then contacted an unlicensed cabbie he found through a Vietnamese ad, 72-year-old Long Ma, and ordered Ma to take the escapees around Orange County and Rosemead. They periodically threatened the driver with a gun.

The trio remained at large, but on Jan. 28, Duong parted ways from his fellow escapees and returned the cab driver safely to a Santa Ana auto shop while turning himself in. 

Nayeri and Tieu were captured one day later in San Francisco after a tipster recognized them from media reports.

Duong, a reported gang member previously awaiting trial for an attempted murder charge, was sentenced to 20 years in 2022, according to the Associated Press. Tieu, previously awaiting a retrial for his alleged role in a deadly 2022 pool hall shooting when still a juvenile, was sentenced to eight years with time served on the escape charge, per The Orange County Register.  

To check out more crimes like those of Hossein Nayeri and his associates, don’t miss The Real Murders of Orange County, available now on Oxygen.