Irving residents Mohamad Hossein "Cyrus" Zarei (59), Zohreh Rahmaty (58) and their only daughter, Sahra Zarei (22) where killed this past Christmas morning while celebrating with family in Grapevine.
The metroplex was horrified at the news that two families had been murdered after opening their Christmas presents.
Police investigators are putting together the pieces and have said that on Christmas morning, a middle-aged man dressed in a Santa Claus suit (identified as Azizolah "Bob" Yazdanpanah) shot and killed a man, a teenage boy and four women and then himself inside a unit at the Lincoln Vineyards Apartments in the 2500 block of Hall-Johnson Road. According to investigators the attack was planned.
On Tuesday, the Tarrant County medical examiner's office released the names and ages of the dead with Grapevine police confirming their relationships.
- Azizolah “Bob” Yazdanpanah, 56, identified as the murderer.
- Yazdanpanah’s estranged wife, Fatemeh Rahmati, 55.
- Nona Yazdanpanah, 19, and Ali Yazdanpanah, 14.
- Rahmati's sister, Zohreh Rahmaty, 58; her husband, Mohamad Hossein "Cyrus" Zarei, 59; and their daughter, Sahra Zarei, 22.
The Tarrant County medical examiner's office reported that all the victims were shot in the head and Cyrus Zarei also shot in the chest and abdomen. These details might point to Zarei perhaps trying to stop Yazdanpanah in the midst of the chaos.
Two handguns were recovered from the scene, a 9 mm and a .40-caliber.
Cyrus Zarei was an administrator at a nursing home in Corsicana (Twilight Home) and commuted from his home in Irving. The Zarei family home was located at 214 Steeplechase Dr in the Fox Glen neighborhood of Las Colinas, according to the Dallas Appraisal District. The home is valued at $493,740.
Sahra Zarei attended North Hills Preparatory in North Irving and was currently a student at the University of Texas at Arlington. A facebook memorial has been setup by Sahra’s Delta Delta Delta sorority friends. (Facebook Sahra Zarei Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/251169221615005/)
In contrast, Yazdanpanah had been struggling financially for years. Tarrant County records show that Yazdanpanah and Rahmati had married in 1986 and filed for divorce in April, 2002. Property records indicate that Yazdanpanah faced foreclosure three times on his Colleyville home with the final notice being sent in August 2010. Yazdanpanah, as well as his wife, had filed for bankruptcy four times between 1999 and 2000.
