HOUSTON – Family members of a 28-year-old man who was murdered last November believe they know who killed their loved one, and they believe it is connected to a friend of theirs that was murdered ten months earlier.
Cory Beaver's twin brother, Coty, was found dead in his apartment November 12, 2012.
"There's no doubt in my mind that they're both connected and it's same person," Beavers said.
Coty's friend, and Cory's girlfriend, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, was murdered in an alley not far from her Galleria-area home January 16, 2012.
Nobody has been charged in either murder case and investigators have not named a suspect.
They have not revealed publically whether the cases are connected.
Local 2 Investigates learned Coty Beavers father-in-law, Ali Irsan, 55, was questioned in each case, and Local 2 has learned a search warrant was executed at Irsan's home.
"We are awaiting the testing of some items we collected during the search warrant," said Harris County Sgt. James Dousay.
Dousay would not elaborate on what was being tested.
"He said basically if I'm ever killed or murdered it was Ali Irsan," Beavers said. "I mean he was that specific about it."
Dousay confirmed the Beavers and Irsan did not get along.
According to Houston Police Department detective Richard Bolton, Irsan did not get along with Gelareh Bagherzadeh either.
"There was an exchange of words that weren't pleasant," Bolton said, regarding an exchange Bagherzadeh had with Irsan over the phone on one occasion.
According to the Beavers family, Irsan did not like his daughter keeping company with Bagherzadeh.
Bagherzadeh, an Iranian born student, had converted to Christianity and had attended Houston protests targeting Iran's government.
Some theorize that Bagherzadeh may have been killed by Iranian government operatives.
Beavers, who was dating Bagherzadeh, dismissed the notion.
"Do you really think that another country came over her and assasinated this girl?" Beavers said.
In the course of Local 2 Investigates research, we discovered that in 1999, Ali Irsan shot and killed a son-in-a-law who married another daughter, and he admitted to it.
A Montgomery County grand jury "no billed" the case, believing Irsan's claim of self-defense.
Local 2 made several attempts to contact Ali Irsan for this story.
A return call from a someone who identified herself as his daughter said the family would consider the request, but Local 2 had not received a not call back to schedule an interview Thursday evening.
A possible suspect sketch was released in the Coty Beavers murder case, but does not bear a resemblance to Ali Irsan.
Police have said multiple people who may be working together may have committed these crimes.
If you have any tips in either case, please call 713-225-TIPS.
Gelareh Bagherzadeh's case has the highest reward in Crime Stoppers history nationwide with $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.
