Podiatrist who hired killer found suitable for parole

Convicted of first-degree murder in 1999, Moalem is believed to have killed to his business partner Benjamin Hurwitz, also a podiatrist, to collect $60,000 in life insurance when he ran into financial trouble nearly two decades earlier, according to prosecutors.

On Oct. 13, 1976, Hurwitz was fatally shot while driving on State Route 92 in Foster City. The case grew cold for 23 years until 1998 when Moalem’s former wife revealed he had hired bar bouncer Richard Quilopras to kill Hurwitz. Moalem was the beneficiary of Hurwitz’s life insurance policy and in the process of buying his podiatry business, according to prosecutors.

Other men involved in the case also admitted having introduced Moalem to Quilopras and driven the hit man the night of the shooting. Quilopras, who was paid $6,000 to kill Hurwitz, also received a life sentence in the murder. Moalem’s wife testified against him and was given time served and probation for her accessory role helping to cover up the murder, prosecutors said previously.

Though he was found guilty of the murder by a jury after a 17-day trial, Moalem has allegedly continued to deny guilt for the crime. Because no special circumstance law was in place in 1976, Moalem was not barred from parole eligibility, according to prosecutors.

Moalem was denied parole on six other occasions, including a hearing Sept. 12, 2016, in which he was denied parole for another three years. Though his next parole hearing should have been scheduled September 2019, Moalem exercised his right under Marsy’s Law to advance the hearing because he complied with all the parole board’s requests.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Moalem’s parole status will likely undergo three or four months of administrative review by the state Board of Parole Hearings before heading to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for final approval. Wagstaffe said prosecutors still believe Moalem is a danger to society given the premeditated nature of the murder.

“It was a very premeditated and deliberate execution of his business partner,” he said. “We feel that this was a premature act to release him at this time.”