Hillsborough heiress murder trial: District attorney will not retry Kaveh Bayat for killing of Keith Green

ByMelanie Woodrow KGO logo
Friday, December 20, 2019
Heiress murder trial: DA will not retry Kaveh Bayat
Kaveh Bayat will not be retried for the killing of a father of two in 2016. Bayat and his ex-girlfriend, Hillsborough real estate heiress Tiffany Li, were charged with the murder of Keith Green.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- Kaveh Bayat is free from custody for the first time in approximately three and a half years.

Leaving jail he said he felt "happy."

The San Mateo County District Attorney says justice was not served.

"As of today, there will be nobody held accountable for Keith Green's murder. The evidence ultimately was not enough," said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Prosecutors charged Tiffany Li and Bayat, Li's boyfriend with Green's murder. Green is the father of Li's children.

After 12 days of deliberations, the jury acquitted Li who has already been released and was hung on Bayat.

"The question was today for Mr. Bayat will we retry him? Did I feel there was something that would occur differently in another trial and I have concluded the answer to that was no," said Wagstaffe.

"Mr. Bayat was never guilty of the crime so it's the right decision," said Bayat's attorney John May.

"I felt the evidence was sufficient to prove the two of them were responsible for Green's death, a jury told us otherwise and that's how our system works," said Wagstaffe.

But at least one juror is questioning the decision. She asked that we not show her face.

"We worked so hard and I now have to rely on exactly what Colleen (Green's mother) relies which is karma and the fact that these people have to live with what they did," said the juror.

"Sometimes cases just don't measure up," said Wagstaffe.

All of that said Bayat, could still be charged again later.

"As you know there's no statute of limitations as to murder," said Wagstaffe.

Because the jury acquitted Li, she can not be charged again by the state of California.

Meantime, Olivier Adella, Tiffany Li and Kaveh Bayat's bodyguard and trainer, who faced accessory to murder charges for dumping Green's body remains in custody.

Prosecutors cut a deal with him but ultimately didn't call him as a witness.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe now says if he could roll the clock back, he wouldn't have cut that deal, but even so, he does not believe a jury would have convicted Adella on murder.

Adella's sentencing for the accessory to murder charges he pleaded guilty to is Jan. 10. He likely has already served his time, and could possibly be released that day.

Take a look at the latest stories and videos about the death of Millbrae father Keith Green.

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