Evidence points to key suspect, attorney says

REDWOOD CITY — Authorities have evidence that murder defendant Olivier Adella traveled to the North Bay within 12 hours of the death of Millbrae resident Keith Green, whose decomposing body was found May 11 in Sonoma County, an attorney for one of Adella’s codefendants said Tuesday.

Adella and two other people — Tiffany Li, of Hillsborough, and her boyfriend Kaveh Bayat — are charged with killing Green, Li’s exboyfriend, who disappeared April 29 after arranging to meet Li at the Millbrae Pancake House the night before, according to police.

The three defendants appeared Tuesday in San Mateo County Superior Court but once again delayed entering pleas to felony murder charges and a special allegation that one of them was armed with a gun while carrying out the crime. Their preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 6.

After the hearing, Li’s attorney, Geoffrey Carr, said detectives obtained evidence indicating Adella, 41, drove to Sonoma County shortly after the murder occurred. The body of Green, 27, was found nearly two weeks later in a wooded area off Highway 101 near Healdsburg.

Adella, of Burlingame, spoke to detectives for a total of about 17 hours, providing contradictory accounts of his involvement in the homicide, Carr added. At one point he suggested Bayat, 29, hired him to follow Green, because a jealous Bayat was worried Green was trying to get back together with Li, the attorney said. At another point Adella indicated there was a meeting of the three co-defendants where Bayat asked him to kill Green, but Adella never followed through, Carr said.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe rejected the notion that Adella gave conflicting accounts. Like the tales of most murder defendants, Adella’s story “evolved” under questioning, he said.

“It was an evolutionary statement, going from him denying any involvement to acknowledging his role in the event,” said Wagstaffe.

The district attorney declined to comment on Carr’s claim regarding evidence of Adella’s whereabouts around the time of the murder. Adella’s attorney, Eric Hove, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Carr asserted the evidence the DA has turned over to the defense so far does not implicate Li, 30, who lived in a luxury home on W. Santa Inez Avenue in Hillsborough. She and Green had two young daughters together, who are now being cared for by their grandparents.

“I’ve rarely seen a murder where there is less connecting anybody to something than this one,” Carr said.

Wagstaffe disagreed. Aside from Adella’s statement to police, he said, “There’s extensive other evidence related to his client.”

A couple dozen friends and supporters of Green attended Tuesday’s hearing, some wearing “Justice for Keith” T-shirts.

The defendants are now slated to return to court on Aug. 17 to enter their pleas. They are being held without bail.