Fugitive Suspect Arrested in the 2017 Murder of Tribeca Jewelry Store Owner

Following the discovery of the victim in the jewelry store's bathroom, police cordoned off the shop during the investigation. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

The employee of a former Tribeca jewelry store, accused of choking his boss to death eight years ago and then fleeing the country, was brought back to New York on Friday to face a charge of second degree murder.

Prosecutors say that on Feb. 14, 2017, Michel Patrick Desalles, now 54, allegedly attacked Omid Gholian, 43, and tied two zip ties tightly around his neck. Some three hours later Desalles bought a plane ticket to his native Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean, and flew out of JFK Airport, the indictment charges. 

Police discovered the body the next day after Gholian’s brother notified the 1st Precinct that he had not seen Omid, a police source told the Trib at the time. Cops found the victim lying on the floor in the bathroom of the store, World of Gold N Diamond, 193 Church St., with zip ties around his neck, bruising to an eye and a gash on his head. The Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the death was a homicide caused by “compression of neck.” According to a preliminary investigation, nothing was stolen and there was no sign of a struggle.

The victim’s brother, Jacob Gholian, told the Daily News that Desalles had been working in the store for nearly a decade and had been considered “part of the family” by Omid. “When they told me that night that he’s a suspect, I said, ‘it’s impossible,’” the brother said.

Desalles, who has a West New York, NJ, address, was extradited back to the U.S. Friday and arraigned in New York State Supreme Court. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

“I hope the victim’s loved ones can take some measure of comfort that this defendant will finally face accountability in New York,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “I thank our prosecutors for never wavering from the investigation and doggedly seeking the return of this defendant.” 

Bragg’s office said the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Port Louis, the capital city, and the U.S. Marshals Service worked with the Office of the Attorney General of Mauritius and the Mauritian Police Force to secure Desalles’s arrest and extradition. The DA’s office also assisted with the extradition efforts, Bragg said.

Desalles’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.