{"id":161362,"date":"2026-02-03T04:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161362\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:02:13","slug":"details-emerge-in-death-of-southern-california-tech-ceos-estranged-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161362\/","title":{"rendered":"Details emerge in death of Southern California tech CEO\u2019s estranged wife"},"content":{"rendered":"

New details\u00a0have\u00a0emerged\u00a0since the arrest of a former Southern California tech CEO in connection with the alleged murder of his estranged wife late last year.<\/p>\n

Ayan Papoli<\/a>, 58, was found dead at the bottom of a 75-foot embankment in Crestline, a San Bernardino Mountains community,\u00a0on Nov. 18, 2025.<\/p>\n

Initially, investigators\u00a0were unable to\u00a0identify\u00a0Papoli\u00a0and\u00a0believed her death was the result of an accident.\u00a0They released a composite sketch of her in hopes someone would come forward and\u00a0identify\u00a0her.<\/p>\n

Four days after her body was\u00a0discovered, she was reported missing from her Newport Beach home and was\u00a0officially\u00a0identified<\/a>\u00a0by the San Bernardino County Coroner\u2019s Office\u00a0on\u00a0Dec 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, they determined her injuries to be consistent with a fall,\u201d Jenny Smith, a spokesperson with the San Bernardino County Sheriff\u2019s Department, told KTLA\u2019s Shelby Nelson. \u201cBut after our\u00a0coroner\u2019s\u00a0office reviewed\u00a0her circumstances further, they decided that it was a homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon Abas Goodarzi, 66,\u00a0Papoli\u2019s\u00a0husband,\u00a0was arrested in connection with her death on Jan. 23\u00a0at his home\u00a0in the affluent L.A. County city of Rolling Hills. The San Bernardino County District Attorney\u2019s Office\u00a0charged with him murder<\/a>\u00a0two days later.<\/p>\n

So far, investigators have not said what led them to the 66-year-old, but in an amended criminal complaint, the DA added\u00a0special\u00a0circumstances\u00a0of \u201clying in wait\u201d and \u201cmurder for financial gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

First responders recover the body of Aryan Papoli, 58, from the bottom a 75-foot embankment in Crestline on Nov. 18, 2025. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

First responders recover the body of Aryan Papoli, 58, from the bottom a 75-foot embankment in Crestline on Nov. 18, 2025. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

Aryan Papoli and her husband, Gordon Abas Goodarzi, seen in this undated photo from Papoli\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

Aryan Papoli, 58, was found dead at the bottom of a 75-foot embankment in Crestline on Nov. 18, 2025. (Aryanpapoli.net)<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

Aryan Papoli, 58, was found dead at the bottom of a 75-foot embankment in Crestline on Nov. 18, 2025. (Aryanpapoli.net)<\/p>\n

\"Aryan<\/p>\n

Aryan Papoli, 58, was found dead at the bottom of a 75-foot embankment in Crestline on Nov. 18, 2025. (Aryanpapoli.net)<\/p>\n

Iranian born,\u00a0Papoli\u00a0emigrated to the states with her family when she was 18\u00a0and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, the\u00a0Los Angeles Times reported<\/a>. She later met\u00a0Goodarzi\u00a0and the couple founded a clean-energy company called U.S.\u00a0Hybrid.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s two adult sons created a\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0in their mother\u2019s memory, writing that they are devastated by her death. They described her as a woman with a passion for creative expression who \u201cspread light,\u00a0love\u00a0and joy wherever she went.\u201d<\/p>\n

The site makes no mention of their father\u2019s arrest in the\u00a0case\u00a0and KTLA\u2019s attempts to reach them for this story were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

As for Goodarzi,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0being held without bail at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino County.<\/p>\n

In a statement to KTLA, his attorney, Scott Simmons, said, \u201cMy client looks forward to his day in court where the facts and evidence will clearly establish his innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second high-profile murder case\u00a0against an affluent\u00a0husband\u00a0in a matter of\u00a0months.<\/p>\n

Southern California farming magnate Michael Abatti<\/a>, 63,\u00a0was\u00a0arrested\u00a0in connection with his wife\u2019s alleged murder on Dec. 23.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0estranged\u00a0couple were\u00a0reportedly entangled\u00a0in a bitter divorce when Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, was found\u00a0with a gunshot wound to the head in\u00a0the couple\u2019s\u00a0Arizona vacation home on Nov. 20.<\/p>\n

She succumbed to her injuries while being rushed to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New details\u00a0have\u00a0emerged\u00a0since the arrest of a former Southern California tech CEO in connection with the alleged murder of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[78339,7,9,8,43593,35109,74029,5518,1009],"class_list":{"0":"post-161362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-aryan-papoli","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-crestline","13":"tag-embankment","14":"tag-gordon-abas-goodarzi","15":"tag-san-bernardino-county","16":"tag-southern-california"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}