Perkiomen Man Goes On Trial For Murder In Killing of Girlfriend

PERKIOMEN VALLEY, PA — Montgomery County on Monday held its first murder trial since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the case involves a 24-year-old Perkiomen Township man who stands accused of brutally beating his girlfriend to death early last year over an argument involving an ex-lover.

Prosecutors are charging Nicholas Forman, 24, with first-degree murder in connection with the February 2020 beating death of Sabrina Harooni, 22, of Gilbertsville, Pa., according to media reports and court records.

Forman was arrested on Feb. 7, 2020, four days after Pottstown police had responded to Pottstown Hospital regarding a female assault victim who was being treated for life-threatening injuries, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Forman had brought Harooni’s body to the hospital in an Uber; hospital staff subsequently determined that Harooni was already dead by the time her body arrived at the hospital.

Investigators with the Pennsylvania State Police, which have jurisdiction in the area where Harooni’s assault and death took place, along with Montgomery County detectives, launched a joint investigation, which revealed that Harooni and Forman had argued during an Uber ride home from a local bar in Oaks Pa. where they had been watching the Super Bowl, according to the county D.A.’s Office.

During the ride home, the two apparently argued about Harooni’s former boyfriend, an argument which continued into the driveway of Forman’s home.

Investigators ended up recovering a video of an injured and unresponsive Harooni on Forman’s phone that was accompanied by audio of a man’s voice, believed to be Forman, stating, “This is what a cheating liar gets.”

In a report Monday, the Philadelphia Inquirer said that prosecutors opened the trial Monday by saying they would prove that Forman beat Harooni to death in a jealous rage and then hid her body in his home for more than 10 hours before he drove to Pottstown Hospital.

Forman’s defense attorney, Michael John, said he didn’t contest the allegation that Forman killed Harooni, but he said the act was not first-degree murder, and that he would urge jurors to see that the actions were not premeditated, according to the Inquirer article.