Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Man arrested in connection with body in trunk
Suspect was business partner with victim
An arrest warrant for a man now in custody in connection with the death of an Arizona man whose body was found in a car trunk reveals that the two were business partners and that the car was registered to the suspect.
Amir Haggi, 41, was found dead in the trunk of a white BMW in a Budget Suites on West Tropicana Avenue near Interstate 15 after a witness called to report a foul odor coming from the car on Aug 19. The BMW was registered to Tony Danh, 37, and paperwork with his name was found in the glove compartment, according to Las Vegas police.
Haggi was last seen on June 5 in his Phoenix, Arizona, home by his roommate. The roommate said that Haggi left in the evening after he received a phone call, according to police. Police later found that the call came from Danh at 7:43 p.m., seven minutes before Haggi was last seen leaving his home.
Haggi and Danh owned a business together in Phoenix. Employees of the company told police that they didn’t get their paychecks for June and haven’t been in contact with either owner. Police say that Danh had a known gambling problem and was seen asking Haggi for money before his disappearance.
Police said that someone tried to take over Haggi’s finances on June 6 after police found that his phone received messages with codes from Google, Paypal, Cashapp and his bank’s fraud services.
Haggi’s body was too decomposed to determine race, gender, identity or injuries when it was found, police said. Cleaning supplies, roofing tar, paint rollers, paint trays, rubber medical gloves, a performance respirator and several trash bags were found in the car with the body. One of the trash bags had the clothes that Haggi was last seen wearing and another contained a pair of pants with Danh’s last name written on a barcode sticker on the waistband.
Police found a receipt from a Walmart in City of Industry, California, for the items and a burner phone in the front of the car. Surveillance from the Walmart showed a man reportedly matching Danh’s appearance buying the items and a car matching the BMW leaving soon after, according to police.
The BMW was taken to the Budget Suites on Aug. 19 by a tow truck from a house garage that Police say Danh rented from Aug. 16 to Aug. 19. Police say that Danh identified himself to the tow truck driver using a driver’s license and registration for the car with his real name.
The tow truck reportedly dropped Danh off at the Orleans, where he then took a Lyft to a car rental business on East Tropicana Avenue and rented a SUV.
According to information found through a tracking device on the SUV, police say that the SUV was driven back to the Budget Suites around the same time detectives began investigating the BMW. He then reportedly fled to Mexico, driving through the San Ysidro Port at around 8:15 p.m.
Danh was arrested in San Diego by the Criminal Apprehension Team, a group made up of FBI agents and officers from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments, in connection to Haggi’s murder. Danh is still awaiting extradition to Las Vegas, where court records show he faces an open murder charge.