Narayan Thadani and Douglas Tobar, both of Houston, were charged Wednesday with two counts each
Narayan Thadani and Douglas Tobar, both of Houston, were charged Wednesday with two counts each of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire in the deaths of Brij Chhabra, 65, and his wife Aasha, 56.Tobar’s attorney, Guy Womack, who is based in Houston, said this morning that he expects his client will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit on May 30. Detroit federal defender Miriam Siefer, one of Thadani’s lawyers, said today that it’s unclear when Thadani’s arraignment will be.Both attorneys said their clients plan to plead not guilty to the charges, which could be punishable by the death penalty.Police have accused Thadani of asking Tobar, his landscaper, to help him find someone he could hire to kill the Chhabras, with whom Thadani had been embroiled in a lawsuit over management of Aasha Chhabra’s assets in India. That lawsuit says Thadani had been withdrawing money from her accounts without her permission.According to police, Thadani hired Nelson Mendoza and Miguel Angel Servando, who Womack said had worked for Tobar, to kill that Chhabras. Servando and Mendoza, who were living in the Houston area, have been charged with first-degree murder.Womack said Tobar was not involved in the shooting deaths of the Chhabras.“He was as shocked as anyone else” to learn of the killings, Womack said.Servando and Mendoza face trial in Oakland County Circuit Court in September.
