Jan. 11--A California man who fled Illinois was ordered held without bail Saturday after being charged with murder and concealing a homicide in the death of a 29-year-old woman whose body was found in an air mattress in Pilsen in 2013, police said.
Faramarz Bakhshi, 23, struck Michelle Manalansan in the head at his former Pilsen apartment in February 2013, causing her death, prosecutors said. He then left her body in an air mattress filled with garbage wrapped in a blanket in his bedroom and fled to California to live with his mother, according to police and Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Robert Mack.
Months after Manalansan's death, Bakhshi shared a post on Facebook that said, "It's only murder if they find the body; otherwise it's a missing person. Just a thought ...," Mack said, citing the post in court Saturday. He said Bakhshi's behavior was "exceptionally brutal and heinous."
"You'll be held on no bail," Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told Bakhshi sternly.
Manalansan's decomposing body was found on March 17, 2013 when Bakhshi's roommate "had started to finally clean (his) bedroom because he couldn't stand the smell any longer," according to Mack.
Manalansan' cause of death was found to be blunt head trauma, Mack said. On the last night Manalansan's friends and family heard from her, Bakhshi's downstairs neighbor heard the sounds of running and then a slamming on the ground repeatedly, Mack said.
Detectives were ultimately able to track down Bakhshi in California, police said. Mack said Bakhshi told his mother, who had agreed to let him live with her, that Manalansan had died of an overdose. Manalansan's toxicology report was negative, though, Mack said.
It's unclear how Bakhshi and Manalansan knew each other.
Bakhshi has three previous felonies in his background, according to Mack, including a burglary for which he was sentenced to two years in the California Department of Corrections, possession of a controlled substance and another burglary.
