On 25/1, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office announced the indictment of Gordon Abas Goodarzi, 66, for murder. The charge follows an investigation into the death of his wife, Aryan Papoli, 58, whose body was discovered at the bottom of a 23-meter deep ravine in Crestline on 18/11/2025.

Goodarzi, chief executive officer of Magmotor Technologies, was taken into custody on 23/1 at his home in the affluent Rolling Hills Estates neighborhood. Aryan's body could not be immediately identified upon discovery. Two weeks later, on 1/12/2025, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's forensic office identified Aryan and concluded her death was a homicide, noting the cause of death as a fall from a height. The site where the body was discovered is about 120 kilometers from Aryan's home in Newport Beach, where she lived before her disappearance.

Aryan Papoli (left) and her husband Gordon Abas Goodarzi. *Photo: Facebook*

According to the indictment, Goodarzi is alleged to have carried out his wife's murder with a sophisticated, professional plan, amidst a contentious divorce.

Aryan met Goodarzi 30 years ago in California, where they co-founded the clean energy company US Hybrid. In 2021, Ideanomics acquired US Hybrid for 50 million USD in a cash and stock deal. The couple had two sons and lived together in a 5-bedroom house in Rolling Hills Estate.

Six months before her death, Aryan moved to Newport Beach, seeking a "peaceful place to foster creativity" after retiring. In her divorce filing on 12/6/2025, she cited "irreconcilable differences" after 28 years of marriage. She sought spousal support and attorney's fees from her husband. In response, Goodarzi asked the court to rule that both parties be responsible for their own legal fees.

The couple reported several properties and other assets requiring court division during the divorce proceedings. Aryan listed the couple's "community property" as: a 3 million USD home in Rolling Hills Estate, a 1 million USD house in Chino Hills, a vacant lot in South California valued at 500,000 USD, an industrial plot of nearly 4,000 square meters in Massachusetts, and another property in Crestline – where Aryan's body was discovered.

By Tue Anh (based on Nypost, Oxygen)