Man found dead in Tribeca jewelry store bathroom

Kemberly Richardson Image
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Man found dead inside Tribeca jewelry store
Kemberly Richardson has the story.

TRIBECA, Manhattan (WABC) -- A 43-year-old man was discovered dead in the bathroom of a closed jewelry store in Tribeca, and the death is suspicious.

The family is still reeling from the sudden death of their loved one.

Omid Gholian lived in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, neighbors say, with his mother.

But it's what happened at Omid's jewelry store, World of Gold N Diamond, in Tribeca that has relatives and good friends like Fred Lelah devastated and confused.

"He was very friendly, I don't know if he had an enemy, I don't think he had an enemy," Lelah said.

But Wednesday evening, Omid's brother found the 43-year-old dead in a bathroom inside the small shop lying in a pool of blood with zip ties around his neck.

Omid was from Iran, so is Bazargan Bahzad. The pair had been friends for more than 20 years.

None of this seems to make sense, Lelah says he spoke with Omid on Monday and everything was normal, but Tuesday there was a red flag.

The shop was closed, and it was strange since it was Valentine's Day.

"I checked all of the locks and everything was in proper position and everything was fine," Lelah said.

In fact, when Omid's worried brother, who did report him missing, came there Wednesday evening with police, he had to unlock the shop. It seems everything was in place, no cash was taken, and the jewelry was all there.

"Whoever did that is messed up, crazy person, got to get that person," said James Craig, the victim's friend.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.