Ex-Wife Of Slain Doctor Arrested In Murder-For-Hire Scheme: Police

LOS ANGELES, CA — The ex-wife of a prominent Los Angeles doctor shot to death in the parking lot of his clinic was arrested for his murder and her Calabasas mansion raided, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday.

Police allege Ahang Mirshojae, 53, played a key role in the murder-for-hire slaying of 61-year-old Dr. Hamid Mirshojae outside his San Fernando Valley clinic in August. Ahang Mirshojae was arrested on suspicion of murder along with Evan Hardman, 41, Sarallah Jawed, 26, and Shawn Randolph, a 46, of Valley Village. Ashley Rose Sweeting, a 40-year-old Reseda woman, was also arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder.

Dr. Hamid Mirshojae was shot to death in the back of the head in the parking lot of his clinic in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

"As he approached the driver side of his vehicle, a masked man emerged from hiding around the corner of the clinic and ran toward him," the Los Angeles Police Department announced in a written statement. "From a close distance, the suspect fired at Doctor Mirshojae in an ambush-style attack and then immediately fled back toward the rear of the clinic away from the scene."

Mirshojae was pronounced dead at scene. The fatal ambush followed a May 3 assault in which masked attackers beat him with baseball bats, according to police. Hardman and Jawed were each charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the earlier attack, police announced Thursday.

Hardman and Jawed also face a special-circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain, according to the LAPD.

Hardman, of Tomball, Texas, was arrested Tuesday in the Houston area by deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Department, according to Los Angeles police. He remains in custody there while awaiting extradition, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Jawed, whose hometown was not immediately available,was arrested Wednesday by the Los Angeles Police Department's fugitive unit and remains behind bars without bail, according to jail records. He is set to be arraigned Friday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Sweeting pleaded not guilty Thursday to one count of being an accessory after the fact, along with an allegation that she has one or more prior serious or violent felony convictions.

Deputy District Attorney Ben Schwartz told Superior Court Judge Susan J. De Witt that Sweeting allegedly drove the shooter to and from the crime scene in a "situation that appeared to be a murder for hire." She has a string of criminal convictions for offenses including first-degree burglary and grand theft and is on diversion in a carjacking case, the prosecutor said.

Sweeting was ordered to remain jailed on $1 million bail. She is due back in court Dec. 24.

Ahang Mirshojae and Randolph were both arrested Thursday and are being held without bail. Police did not elaborate on their relationship nor what role they played in the alleged murder for hire scheme.

Police were seen searching Mirshojae's home Thursday. It was not clear what they were looking for.

"It should be noted that the investigation remains ongoing, including determining the relationship some of the involved may have shared with the victim," according to the LAPD.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to contact Operations-Valley Homicide at (818) 374-9550.

City News Service contributed to this report.