5 chilling details about Hossein Nayeri's crimes 

Hossein Nayeri, a convict in cases including the 2012 kidnapping, torture, and mutilation of a 28-year-old medical marijuana dispensary owner and his roommate, is the focus of the recently added true-crime docuseries titled Wicked Game: Devil in the Desert on Hulu.

Nayeri was convicted in 2018 and charged with "kidnapping, torture, and aggravated mayhem against a marijuana dealer," as per ABC News. He was sentenced to four life terms in prison, two without the possibility of parole.

The three-part docuseries, titled Wicked Game: Devil in the Desert, focuses on his crimes. It aired on February 4, 2025.

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5 key details about Hossein Nayeri's crimes

1) Hossein Nayeri kidnapped a medical marijuana dispenser owner and his roommate

As reported by ABC News, in October 2012, Hossein Nayeri along with his friend Kyle Handley planned to kidnap a marijuana dispenser owner named Michael Ṣ, from his Newport Beach home. The two men broke into his house wearing masks and abducted Michael and his roommate Mary Barnes.

Barnes described the past horrors, and told ABC News about the abduction, revealing:

"He [Hossein Nayeri] slapped a piece of tape on my mouth, pushed a blindfold down over my eyes. And then he zip-tied my hands, and he zip-tied my ankles together."

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2) Hossein Nayeri and his friend shocked Michael S. with a "stun gun"

Michael and Barnes were pushed into the back of a white van and were driven to Mojave Beach after being abducted. During the ride, Hossein Nayeri and Kyle Handley demanded one million, and when Michael claimed he didn’t have the money, they beat him with a rubber pipe, shocked him with a stun gun, and burnt him with a blowtorch. The same was reported by ABC News.

Barnes describing Michael's condition revealed that:

"He [Michael] was gagged, so it was mostly just muffled grunts of pain as they were hitting him, And it just seemed to go on for a very long time."

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3) The horrifying torture and mutilation by Hossein Nayeri

The kidnappers (Kyle Handley and Hossein Nayeri) drove the aforementioned white van to the Mojave Desert, believing the marijuana owner buried a large sum of money. After reaching the designated location, Nayeri and Handley pulled Michael and Barnes out of the van.

One of the abductors stood on Michael’s chest and the other put a black zip tie around his genitalia and cut it off. The kidnappers then poured bleach on Michael's wounds, and all over his body. Meanwhile, Barnes was incapacitated and was unable to help Michael.

Before leaving, the abductors dropped a knife and informed Barnes that if she found it, she could free herself with it. Barnes described the harrowing experience, revealing:

"I immediately sat up, I pushed my blindfold up with my knees. It was just before sunrise, so there was just enough light that I could see it glinting on the knife. I was able to scooch over to it on my butt. And I have no idea how I did it. It must've just been pure adrenaline, but I cut the zip tie between my feet."

Barnes used a sharp instrument to free herself and walked to a road, where an officer heard her crying for help. Reportedly, Michael and Barnes were saved later that day. The 28-year-old sustained severe injuries and required several surgeries. After this incident, Kyle Handley was arrested, however, Nayeri fled to Iran.

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4) Hossein Nayeri escaped prison

Nayer’s wife, Cortney Shegerian, was helping him with money and other necessities when the latter fled to Iran. When Cortney learned that she would face life in prison due to being an accomplice, she helped the investigators arrest Nayeri.

Nayeri was arrested at an airport in Prague, Czech Republic, and later extradited to the Orange County Men’s Jail in 2014, as per ABC News.

However, Hossein along with two other inmates planned an escape out of prison. On January 22, 2016, the trio managed to carry various tools to cut through their cell's iron bars and access the roof through the plumbing shafts. After a few weeks of planning, they made their way to the roof and utilized a rope that they made out of bed linens to climb down five stories.

They slipped through the grate at 5 am, to make the final run.

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5) Hossein and the other inmates kidnapped a 72-year-old taxi driver

When on the run, Hossein and the two inmates broke into a taxi, threatened the driver, and held him at gunpoint. The man drove the fugitives for more than five days, stopping at several motels. Prosecutors revealed that they took his car and stole a van hundreds of miles north to San Jose.

Hossein and the other two detainees remained inside the stolen van. After eight days, Nayeri was captured and charged with a felony count of escape.

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To learn more about Hossein Nayeri's crimes, stream Wicked Game: Devil in the Desert on Hulu.