No one else will be prosecuted for the April 2016 murder of Keith Green, bringing a stunning end to a nearly four-year-old case that was one of the most high-profile and sensational homicides in recent memory in the Bay Area.
The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday morning that Kaveh Bayat, the ex-boyfriend of millionaire heiress Tiffany Li, will not be tried again in the case, and he may walk free as early as this afternoon. Li and Bayat were co-defendants in a trial that ended in November with a jury acquitting Li and hanging 6-6 on Bayat's guilt. San Mateo DA Steve Wagstaffe said outside the courtroom that the 6-6 split would make him think twice about retrying Bayat, adding, "Generally I look for some different evidence, something different before we go and invest taxpayer money on an expensive and lengthy trial."
As KRON4 reports, none of Green's friends or family attended the hearing Thursday at which Bayat would be getting set free, with one person telling the station, "I don’t think anybody wants to be in that courtroom and look at that dirtbag and watch his smiling face as he gets told he gets to go home."
Green's family launched a petition in late November to try to coerce Wagstaffe into retrying Bayat, and Green's mother has continued to publicly decry Li's guilt, calling her "evil."
Li is now reportedly "traveling" in China.
Prosecutors in the case contended that Li had wanted Green killed after having a dispute with him over money and the custody of their two young daughters. The two had dated for six years, after which Li had broken up with Green and taken up with his friend, Bayat. The prosecution believed that Bayat had pulled the trigger, likely killing Green in Li's Hillsborough home, though there was insufficient physical evidence to prove their case beyond finding blood in two sinks. Olivier Adella, a mixed-martial-arts fighter and sometime bodyguard to Li, was believed to have disposed of Green's body on a remote road near Healdsburg. He pleaded no contest to being an accessory to murder, and he will be released from jail soon for time served.
Defense attorneys argued successfully that Adella's guilt had been underestimated, and that he was likelier than the two defendants to have been responsible for Green's death.
Previously: Olivier Adella, Man Accused of Dumping Body in 2016 Murder, To Get Out of Jail