Aryan Papoli Murder Case: Charges, Motive, and Case Status

The Aryan Papoli murder case centers on the November 2025 death of a 58-year-old Newport Beach artist and businesswoman whose body was found at the base of a steep embankment in the San Bernardino Mountains, and the January 2026 arrest of her estranged husband, 66-year-old tech executive Gordon Abas Goodarzi, on a first-degree murder charge. Prosecutors allege he killed her for financial gain during a contentious divorce and have added special circumstances that make the case eligible for life without parole or the death penalty.¹

How Papoli’s Body Was Found

On November 18, 2025, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a deceased woman found roughly 75 feet down a steep embankment near the intersection of Highway 138 and Crestline Road in Crestline, California. Her injuries appeared consistent with a fall, and the death was initially treated as accidental.² Investigators could not identify her and released a composite sketch asking for public help.³

Papoli was not reported missing to the Newport Beach Police Department until November 22, four days after her body had been found.⁴ Two days after Thanksgiving, deputies notified her son, Navid Goodarzi, that the unidentified woman was his mother. The coroner’s office formally confirmed her identity on December 1, 2025.⁵

Why the Case Became a Homicide Investigation

After the coroner’s office reviewed autopsy results, the case was reclassified from an apparent accidental fall to a homicide. The specific cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.⁶ The Sheriff’s Department Specialized Investigation Division then conducted what the agency called an “extensive and persistent investigation.”⁴

Prosecutors would later allege that the killing actually occurred at Papoli’s Newport Beach home rather than at the Crestline site where her body was found, and that security camera footage placed Goodarzi at her residential complex around the time of her death.⁷ Detectives contacted Goodarzi at his Rolling Hills home and arrested him on January 23, 2026.⁸

The Charges Against Gordon Goodarzi

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office filed a murder charge against Goodarzi on January 23, 2026, under California Penal Code section 187(a). The complaint alleged aggravating circumstances including great violence, planning and sophistication, an attempted or actual taking of great monetary value, and a particularly vulnerable victim.⁹

Prosecutors later added special circumstances allegations of “lying in wait” and “murder for financial gain.” Those allegations make the case eligible for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.¹ At a bail hearing, Deputy District Attorney Jason Liso told the court that bail is “not a right for an individual charged with a capital offense.”⁷

The Alleged Motive

The prosecution’s theory turns on money. Papoli filed for divorce in June 2025 after nearly three decades of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.¹⁰ Prosecutors say she withdrew between $5 million and $8 million from a joint account during the divorce and moved to direct those funds to the couple’s two sons as an inheritance.¹¹

According to prosecutors, Goodarzi told Papoli “he would rather see her die than her get more money from him,” and by killing her he stood to reclaim a claim to the withdrawn money through probate. They also cited evidence from his cell phone showing searches for “taser evidence” and “how to asphyxiate somebody,” which they described as preparation for a “surprise attack.”⁷

Where the Case Stands

Goodarzi was first scheduled for arraignment on January 27, 2026, in Department S7 at the San Bernardino Justice Center.² At a February 10, 2026 arraignment, his attorneys entered a plea of not guilty. The court denied a defense request for $1 million bail and ordered him to remain in custody. A preliminary hearing was set for February 24, 2026.⁷

Defense attorney Scott Simmons has maintained his client’s innocence. After the special circumstances allegations were filed, Simmons said Goodarzi was “stunned” and added: “He is innocent, he claims his innocence and he absolutely can’t wait for his day in court to prove his innocence.”¹²

Who Aryan Papoli Was

Born in Tehran, Papoli emigrated to the United States at 18 with her mother and sister following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she later met Goodarzi.¹³ Together they founded U.S. Hybrid, a Torrance-based clean energy company that Ideanomics acquired for $50 million in 2021.¹⁴ Papoli served as vice president of operations at U.S. Hybrid and later as CFO of Magmotor Technologies, the couple’s second company.¹⁵

She moved to Newport Beach in the summer of 2025 to pursue what her family called a “serene artist’s lifestyle,” working in ceramics, painting, photography, and sculpture, and had recently taken up dance.⁵ After his father’s arrest, her son Navid said: “My brother and I are devastated by the death of our mother. We appreciate the compassion and respect being shown to our family, and we are asking for privacy during this difficult time.”¹³

1
San Bernardino Sun. Tech Millionaire Accused of Killing Estranged Wife Was After Money, Prosecutors Say
2
San Bernardino County District Attorney. Murder Charge Filed in Crestline Homicide
3
KTLA. Details Emerge in Death of Southern California Tech CEO’s Estranged Wife
4
CBS News Los Angeles. Aryan Papoli’s Estranged Husband Gordon Goodarzi Charged With Murder
5
Los Angeles Times. Son of Newport Beach Woman Found Dead in Crestline
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Victor Valley Daily Press. Man Arrested in Death of O.C. Woman Whose Body Was Found in Crestline
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CBS News Los Angeles. Estranged Husband Pleads Not Guilty to Murder Charge
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ABC7. Estranged Husband Arrested for Murder of Aryan Papoli
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San Bernardino County District Attorney. People v. Gordon Abas Goodarzi, Felony Complaint
10
MassLive. A $3 Million Worcester Property Is Caught in the Middle of a California Murder Case
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New York Post. SoCal Tech CEO Killed Wife to Stop Her Giving Millions to Their Sons, Court Docs Claim
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New York Post. Wealthy SoCal Tech CEO Accused of Murdering Wife Faces Death Penalty
13
Los Angeles Times. Missing Newport Beach Woman’s Husband Charged With First-Degree Murder
14
Los Angeles Business Journal. Zero-Emission Truck Maker US Hybrid Acquired
15
People. Tech Tycoon Accused of Lying in Wait to Kill Estranged Wife