Testimony: Suspect in ‘honor killings’ pulled over for speeding shortly after first slaying

Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan is shown in court Monday, June 25, 2018. Irsan was charged with capital murder because his alleged crime involved multiple victims  his daughters best friend, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, an Iranian medical student and activist, and his daughters husband, Coty Beavers, 28. Both slayings, authorities said, were driven by the anger of Irsan, a conservative Muslim, over his daughter Nesreens decision to marry Beavers, a Christian from Houston. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle ) less Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan is shown in court Monday, June 25, 2018. Irsan was charged with capital murder because his alleged crime involved multiple victims  his daughters best friend, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, an ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff / Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Testimony: Suspect in ‘honor killings’ pulled over for speeding shortly after first slaying 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 60-year-old Montgomery County man facing the death penalty for two alleged “honor killings” acted erratically when he got pulled over for speeding shortly after the first slaying, according to testimony Friday from the officer who made the traffic stop.

A series of administrative staffers from MD Anderson Cancer Center, where two of the defendant’s daughters and the murder victim attended school, also testified that Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan’s conduct stood out as unusual because he asked to look at classrooms.

Special prosecutors have argued that the Jordanian immigrant, a devout Muslim, killed his daughter’s husband and her best friend because she had strayed from the family’s faith, converting to Christianity and marrying a Christian. They told jurors during opening statements this week that Irsan and his son tracked down and shot his daughter Nesreen’s best friend, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, a politically active Iranian medical student in the parking lot of her parent’s Galleria condominium in January 2012.

The lawyers told jurors Irsan also gunned down her 28-year-old husband Coty Beavers in November 2012. Defense lawyers have said the two homicides are unrelated and the deaths were not part of the same scheme. If convicted of capital murder, Irsan could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

The jury Friday watched dashcam footage of the traffic stop, taken at approximately 12:30 a.m. Jan. 16, 2012, less than an hour after the homicide. A DPS trooper assigned to make DWI arrests testified that Irsan was racing north of Houston on Interstate 45 at 79 mph with his wife and son when he pulled him over. Irsan said he was speeding because he was diabetic and needed to buy a drink, presumably to address his low blood sugar, the trooper said.

The officer testified that Irsan already had two drinks already in the car, which he thought hurt Irsan’s explanation. He said Irsan’s behavior on the video, including pacing back and forth and squatting repeatedly on the shoulder of the road, seemed atypical, but he let him go with a warning because he had been assigned to stop motorists suspected of driving under the influence.

Other witnesses Friday included several employees at MD Anderson who knew the defendant’s daughters and declined his “adamant” requests to view the interior of the facilities his daughters attended.

“It was unusual to have a parent up there all the time,” said administrative assistant Cassandra Kennard, who told jurors he often arrived with 10 children in tow. Crying, she recalled that the tight-knit student body was racked with grief, and many students, including the defendant’s daughter, were scared after Bagherzadeh, a popular student, was killed.

Earlier in the day, a friend of the victim’s testified about the political protests she helped organize in Houston with Bagherzadeh to raise awareness about what they saw as a rigged election in Iran in 2009.

Kathy Soltani told jurors Bagherzadeh made a huge impression on people despite her stature.

“She was noticed by many people because she was tiny and beautiful,” she said, apologizing as she broke into tears. “She seemed like she was 7 feet tall, that’s how passionate she was.”

The trial is expected to last for several more weeks.