A 7-year criminal mystery has come to a quiet close with a confession. Nathan Mowers admitted he strangled his girlfriend in a fit of rage and dumped her body in the high desert.
Family members of Azita Nikooei agreed to a plea deal so Mowers would lead them to her body.
Mowers accepted a voluntary manslaughter plea and an 11-year sentence in state prison. Azita Nikooei disappeared in September 2004, stunning friends and family who held candlelight vigils.
Nikooei worked as an exotic dancer at Deja Vu, but at a news conference Monday afternoon, prosecutors said that had little to do with this case.
"She was a human being. She was a mother who loved her child deeply and loved life, and should be treated as such," said prosecutor Melissa Allen.
Nikooei's car was later found in The Marketplace parking lot. On Monday, detectives confirmed Mowers drove it there to throw them off track.
"he didn't get away with it. it just took us a little longer, a little more perseverance," said Detective Herman Caldas, Bakersfield Police Department.
Detectives say it started with a domestic dispute, Nikooei accused Mowers of cheating on her. And, in a fit of rage he strangled her, dropped her body in the trunk of his car in the cover of their garage, then sped off for the high desert of San Bernardino County, a few miles across the Kern County line.
"We had an idea of the area, based on cell phone information, of where the body was, but we obviously didn't know where he put it," said Allen.
And, because of that Mowers wasn't initially arrested and charged with Nikooei's death, even though detectives saw scratches on Mowers knees and he admitted he had fought with Nikooei and bruised her neck during a heated argument.
Police submitted the case in 2006, but the district attorney sent it back for more investigation.
"The detectives were told that "no body" cases often get better with time and that this office would re-visit the filing of the charges sometime in the future," said District Attorney Lisa Green.
So detectives pulled cell phone records that showed Mowers driving toward Mojave at the time of Nikooei's disappearance. They talked to a friend of Mowers who said he confessed to the killing.
Then in May came a first degree murder arrest.
In lieu of a lengthy trial, Nikooei's family wanted closure, so last summer they agreed to drop the more severe charge if Mowers would take authorities to the place he dumped Nikooei's body and left it open to the elements.
Searchers found just one thing. "That being an acyrllic fingernail. It was the same size and style that she wore, and we will attempt to have DNA done on that. But, we're not sure that will be productive," said Allen.
When the body couldn't be found, Mowers started explaining. "There was some emotions, he was contrite, and he provided a full confession of what happened," said Allen.
As part of the plea, prosecutors say Mowers also agreed to the harshest punishment allowed by law, an 11-year sentence.
Today, Nikooei's son is a 14-year-old high school student in Fresno.
For him, officials say they'll keep searching for her remains, giving the family something to bury.
17 News reached out to Nikooei's family, but we did not hear back.
