Tech CEO Fahim Saleh’s personal assistant arrested in gruesome slaying

New York City police suspect the stabbing and dismemberment of the 33-year-old entrepreneur was tied to stolen money

The 21-year-old personal assistant of Fahim Saleh was arrested Friday in the grisly slaying of the tech investor, an attack police said appeared to be tied to the theft of tens of thousands of dollars.

Tyrese Devon Haspil is accused of attacking Saleh, 33, at his luxury apartment in Manhattan on Monday. New York police say Haspil dismembered the body a day later with an electric saw and put the remains in trash bags.

A family member discovered the remains Tuesday when she checked on Saleh after not hearing from him, NYPD Detectives Chief Rodney Harrison said during a news briefing Friday. Harrison said the family member was a cousin, but initial reports said it was Saleh’s sister. Harrison did not take questions or address the discrepancy.

Police earlier said she may have interrupted Haspil when she buzzed Saleh’s unit from the building’s entry, and they suspect he escaped down a service entrance.

Haspil was arrested Friday morning outside a building in the city’s SoHo neighborhood, Harrison said. Haspil faces second-degree murder and other charges and was expected to be arraigned later Friday.

The gruesome killing shocked neighbors and the tech and venture capital worlds, where Saleh, a founding partner at Adventure Capital, cultivated a reputation as an energetic and creative businessman who specialized in direct investment in developing nations. His ride-hailing apps in Nigeria (Gokada), and his parents’ native Bangladesh (Pathao) grew to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fahim Saleh, slain tech CEO, helped bring big tech to the developing world

“Fahim is more than what you are reading,” his family said in a Wednesday statement. “He is so much more. His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind.”

Haspil was Saleh’s executive assistant and “handled his finances and personal matters,” Harrison said. “It is also believed that he owed the victim a significant amount of money.”

Saleh recently discovered that Haspil — who’d worked for him for five years — stole roughly $90,000 from him, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed law enforcement officials. Saleh did not file a police report, the Times noted, choosing instead to fire Haspil and offer to set up a repayment plan.

Police say Haspil, dressed in a black three-piece suit, followed Saleh into the key-card secured elevator that led to his seventh-floor apartment and attacked him when the elevator stopped. He disabled Saleh with a Taser, police told the Times, and stabbed him several times in the neck and torso.

Police say Haspil left the apartment to obtain cleaning supplies from Home Depot, then returned to dismember Saleh’s body and erase any potential DNA evidence, even using a handheld vacuum to clean the elevator.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/17/fahim-saleh-arrest-assistant-murder/

For anyone thinking the Pentagon isn't DS

Pentagon to Consider Stripping Names, Gender Pronouns from Selection Boards

The Defense Department's Personnel and Readiness directorate is weighing whether to strip names and gender pronouns from promotion boards, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

During a remote town hall-style forum from the Pentagon on Friday, Esper said he has directed his team to consider whether to strike identifying information such as names and gender from evaluations and promotion packets to prevent unconscious bias from tainting the decision-making process.

Read More: Pentagon Bans Confederate Flag on Bases Without Mentioning it by Name

"We are trying to root these practices out that might enable unconscious bias. … I've asked [the] directorate to go out and come back within 45 to 60 days to present a plan by which we could strike references to names, references to gender that may trigger unconscious bias. It's to make sure it's a merit-based system and solely a merit-based system," Esper said.

The response was to a question from Army Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Fadeyi, the first sergeant of the 47th Combat Support Hospital at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, who was born in Nigeria and moved to the U.S. at age 5.

"With a name, the gender and possibly race of that soldier would be present for the board members," Fadeyi told Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and his senior enlisted adviser, Chief Master Sgt. Ramón Colón-López.

Esper issued a military-wide directive Wednesday barring the use of photos in promotion boards and ordering a review of hair and grooming standards to eliminate racial bias.

He also promised that the DoD would update its equal opportunity and diversity inclusion policies, conduct research on prejudice and bias across the department and services, and develop training that "enables commanders to have relevant, candid and effective discussion."

"These actions identified today will better ensure a diverse workforce at all levels, an inclusive environment, and equal opportunity for all who serve. But hard work remains as efforts to shift our culture require steadfast attention," Esper said.

The Army announced in June that it would stop using photos in promotion boards, and Navy officials said they planned to review the practice.

The Air Force required them only under some circumstances, but Marine Corps officials said they would continue requiring them for the boards, which review promotions for the enlisted ranks of staff sergeant and above and captain through major general.

The Coast Guard does not require photos and, last year, it dropped gender-specific pronouns and first names from evaluations and promotion packages to eliminate possible bias.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/07/17/pentagon-consider-stripping-names-gender-pronouns-selection-boards.html