The last defendant in the murder case involving Bay Area real estate heiress Tiffany Li was freed Friday, but not for long.
Olivier Adella, the man allegedly hired to help bury the victim, was released from jail and into the waiting arms of federal agents. He was already wanted for immigration violations.
Adella was sentenced in San Mateo County court to being an accessory to murder after the fact for a murder than one else will be held accountable.
In November, jurors found Li not guilty on charges of murder and conspiring with Kaveh Bayat, her then-boyfriend, to kill 27-year-old Keith Green, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her children, in 2016 over a custody dispute.
Prosecutors said Li lured Green to her mansion in Hillsborough to discuss custody of their children. Bayat was accused of shooting Green. Bayat's trial ended with a hung jury, and the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office decided not to retry the case.
Adella, the man who allegedly buried Green's body, was supposed to be the star witness in both trials, but there were problems with his plea deal and he never took the stand.
"It was a major blow," San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "He was a key witness who was going to give us a lot of information to tie Ms. Li and Mr. Bayat in."
Local
None of that matters to Green's mother, who lamented both inside and outside court that there was no justice for her son.
"I think that justice was not served, as I've felt since they released Tiffany and then Kaveh," Colleen Cudd said.
After the judge sentenced Adella to jail time he had already served, he went straight into the hands of the United States Department of Homeland Security. He was arrested and transported to Santa Rita Jail to be processed for federal crimes.
Only Bayat could be charged in the murder case again if new evidence emerges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
