SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The trial began Wednesday for a TikTok star accused of murdering his wife and another man in the East Village.
Prosecutors say TikTok star Ali Abulaban shot and killed his wife, Ana Abulaban, and Rayburn Cardenas Barron on Oct. 21, 2021.
Prosecutor Taren Brast began her opening statement with security camera footage that captured the sound of several gunshots on the 35th floor of the Spire San Diego luxury apartment complex.
“He stood in front of Ana, and she screamed. He racked his gun one final time..and put a bullet in her head,” Brast said.
After months of relationship turmoil and separation, Brast said Ali Abulaban installed an app on an iPad to spy on Ana.
“He could sleep with any woman he wanted to, but she couldn’t be with other men,” Brast said.
When he heard her with another man, prosecutors say he brought a gun to the apartment and murdered them both — adding it was premeditated per his Google search history.
“He was researching chopped bodies on Oct. 17, and on the 18th, he was researching how to plant a listening device,” Brast said.
Abulaban’s attorney did not try to convince the jury that he didn’t do it; instead, they painted a portrait of his mental illness and addiction.
“His untreated bipolar disorder was spinning out of control…his cocaine addiction adding fuel to the mania,” defense attorney Jodi Green said.
Green also detailed the couple’s relationship trauma that brought him to that moment.
“He was so completely overcome by the months of torture and heartache and pain that he reacted without thought,” Green said.
