Four people are accused of torturing a California marijuana-dispensary owner with a blowtorch and cutting off his penis in an attempt to force him to reveal where he had buried piles of cash in the desert — after leaving him for dead on the side of the road, Orange County authorities said in announcing the case Friday.
Ryan Anthony Kevorkian, 34, and his wife, Naomi Josette Kevorkian, 33, were arrested Friday in Fresno, a day after the FBI arrested 34-year-old Hossein Nayeri in Prague, the district attorney’s office and Newport Beach police said in a statement.
Another man, Kyle Shirakawa Handley, 34, was arrested in October of last year.
The four have been charged with kidnapping for ransom, aggravated mayhem, torture, burglary and a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury. They were being held without bail and could face up to life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted.
On Oct. 2, 2012, Handley, Nayeri and Ryan Kevorkian went to the man’s home and kidnapped him along with his roommate’s girlfriend, authorities contend. They then allegedly burned the man with a blowtorch as they drove to a desert spot where they believed he had hidden money. There, they cut off his penis and dumped him and the woman on the roadside, driving away with the penis so it couldn’t be reattached, authorities claimed.
Handley pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.