Tikisha Upshaw

Summary

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SNAPPED: Women Who Murder

Episode Title: Tikisha Upshaw
Original Air Date: August 31, 2025
Podcast by: Oxygen

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Overview:

This episode of Snapped: Women Who Murder examines the complex and ultimately deadly conflict between business partners Adan Khatami and Takisha Upshaw, set against the backdrop of California’s newly legalized cannabis industry. What began as an ambitious venture to open a dispensary in San Francisco devolved into suspicion, betrayal, and murder—a plot orchestrated for greed and control but ending in senseless tragedy. The episode unravels the investigation, following detectives as they trace a trail of evidence from a brazen daytime shooting to its masterminds.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Crime: A Daylight Ambush

• 01:35–03:53 The episode opens with the murder of Adan Khatami, a 38-year-old father, shot dead in his truck during daylight at a busy Hayward, California intersection.
• Multiple witnesses report the shooter, later identified as Johnny Wright, fled the scene.

  "He was in the driver's seat and he was slumped forward. He had a gunshot wound to his side."
  — Detective/Interviewer (03:38)

2. Victim Background: Ambition and Family

• 05:16–08:54 Adan is portrayed as a driven, loving father, successful from a young age, with entrepreneurial ventures in real estate and ultimately, cannabis.

  "From a young age he always pushed himself to like, strive to be more and strive to be better."
  — Family Member (05:47)

• He was dedicated to his children, with amicable relationships with both mothers of his children.

3. Business Opportunity Turns Sour

• 09:04–10:03, 26:16–32:06 Adan’s ambitions led him to the booming cannabis industry, where he partnered with Takisha Upshaw to open Green God's Compassion dispensary. Initial excitement gave way to tension and distrust.

  "When Adhan and Kesha started this venture, he was the sole owner. At some later point in time, he put her name on the business, but then she wanted more."
  — Family Member (30:47)

4. The Investigation: Random Act or Calculated Plan?

• 11:00–12:21, 18:42–21:04 Swift arrests are made: Johnny Wright, identified by witnesses, and his girlfriend, Chariot Burks, who drove the getaway car. However, detectives can’t discern any link between Adan and his assailants—suggesting the attack isn’t random.

  "What in the world does this guy have to do with this guy? Adan Katami? There's no identifiable connection between the two of them."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter (16:16)

5. Business Conflicts as Motive

• 26:09–32:13 Police and family consider the ongoing business dispute with Takisha Upshaw.

  "He felt, I think he was being sort of iced out."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter (31:09)

• Adan demanded to be bought out for $1 million as tensions peaked.

6. Connecting the Hit: Burners, Cell Towers, and Middlemen

• 32:47–38:04 Investigators uncover that Johnny Wright used a burner phone, which connected frequently near Takisha’s house. Wesley Brown, a friend of Takisha’s, is revealed as a facilitator, linking the burner phone to both the shooter and Takisha.

  "It became obvious that this burner phone was making calls from where Tekesha Upshaw lived in the Bay Area."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter (33:27)

7. Surveillance and Arrests

• 38:04–39:05 Surveillance and cell records clinch probable cause, leading to the arrest of Takisha and Wesley.

  "When Takesha was arrested, we obviously formed a search warrant at her house. In the basement of her home was sophisticated indoor marijuana grow."
  — Supporting Investigator/Officer (38:22)

• Takisha and Wesley are placed in adjoining jail cells, where Takisha urges silence.

  "She says, don't say anything. I'll get us both great attorneys."
  — Supporting Investigator/Officer (40:07)

8. Courtroom and Aftermath: Trial, Conviction, and Fallout

• 41:25–45:19 Takisha faces trial for premeditated murder, with phone records and business motives as primary evidence.

  "Ms. Upshaw was convicted of first degree murder with an enhancement that she did for financial gain. Ms. Upshaw was sentenced to life in prison."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter (45:05)

• The dispenser permit was denied days after the murder, rendering the motive tragically futile.

  "She had Adan killed over a business that was worth nothing."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter (41:13, again at 43:54)

• Co-conspirators: Johnny Wright took a plea deal (50 years to life), Chariot Burks was convicted as an accessory and later released, and charges against Wesley Brown were dropped for lack of evidence.

9. Impact on Family and Community

• 45:45–45:58 The episode closes with heartfelt reflections from Adan’s family, grieving the senseless loss.

  "Adhan was taken from his family, from his children, from his friends, his community. For what? There was nothing to gain by it at all."
  — Family Member (45:45) "It just changed our lives, like in such a big way and it was just so unnecessary."
  — Family Member (45:58)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

The Unusual Suspect

• 15:02

  "He asked if we had the death penalty and if there was a district attorney present that could essentially write up a plea agreement at that time where he would go straight to death row because he didn't want to spend a lot of time in prison..."
  — Detective/Interviewer

The Motive for Murder

• 43:04

  "The drive to commit a crime like this comes back to, you know, your deadly sins, greed, convincing yourself that you're gonna have this successful business and not wanting to share it with anybody."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter

Futility of the Killing

• 43:54

  "The planning Commission ended up ruling 70 against opening this dispensary ...The toughest part about this whole case is the fact that she had Adan killed over a business that was worth nothing."
  — Case Analyst/Reporter

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Important Timestamps for Major Segments:

• 01:35 — The crime occurs: Adan Khatami is shot.
• 03:53 — Victim is identified.
• 09:04 — Introduction to Adan’s cannabis business aspirations.
• 13:23 — Arrest of Johnny Wright.
• 17:13 — Questioning of Chariot Burks.
• 26:16 — Investigators focus on business disputes as potential motive.
• 29:20–30:10 — How Adan and Takisha’s partnership formed.
• 31:57 — Adan’s demand for a buyout; partnership collapse.
• 32:47 — Burner phone evidence surfaces.
• 38:22 — Arrest of Takisha Upshaw and search of her property.
• 40:30 — Charges announced; Takisha, Wesley, Johnny, and Chariot’s different roles and outcomes.
• 43:42–43:54 — The murder’s tragic futility revealed: business permit denied.
• 45:05 — Conviction and sentencing of Takisha Upshaw.
• 45:45 — Family’s closing reflections.

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Tone & Presentation

The episode blends methodical detective narration, firsthand interviews with family and friends, and expert analysis, balancing emotional gravity with investigative rigor. It highlights both procedural tenacity and the profound personal loss caused by the crime.

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This summary provides a comprehensive walkthrough of the case, episode arc, pivotal revelations, and the emotional impact of Adan Khatami’s murder—unraveling how ambition, distrust, and greed led to a murder with nothing to gain.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

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[Lead Investigator/Detective]

A fatal ambush leaves a young father dead.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

It was broad daylight.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The shooter ran up to the car and fired shots into the car and then ran away.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

A mysterious suspect emerges who are thinking that's the guy.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

But there's no identifiable connection between the two of them.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

A motive eludes officials.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Does he have any enemies? And they were like no.

[Detective/Interviewer]

You have to at least look at the former relationship.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

But suspicions shift when risky business relationships surface.

[Detective/Interviewer]

He was in the process of trying to open up dispensary.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

He was the partner sort of behind the scenes and she was the public face.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

He said, I have all this money out there, but she could just walk away with this whole thing. Give me a million bucks and I'll back out.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

She made a calculation and the drive to commit a crime like this comes back to her. Deadly sins greed.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

July 13, 2016 less than 30 miles south of San Francisco in Hayward, California. It's just before 1pm when an onslaught of 911 calls start pouring into the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

[Detective/Interviewer]

There were multiple callers that was broadcast over through dispatch to report that a Man was shot in a busy intersection.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

It was broad daylight in the middle of the day. There were people everywhere.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

First responders rushed to the corner of Meekland Avenue and Blossom Way.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The first person on scene, I believe was a motor officer.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Onlookers point the officer to a Dodge truck with an unconscious male inside.

[Detective/Interviewer]

He was in the driver's seat and he was slumped forward. He had a gunshot wound to his side.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

His foot was still on the brake and the car was still in drive. The responding officer has to reach in, shut the truck off.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The first officer checked for a pulse and there was no pulse. He was pronounced dead very quickly.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Homicide detectives begin questioning witnesses.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Everyone heard the gunshots and looked up in the shooter and then immediately took off running.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

He had a gun in his hand. He runs west towards the railroad tracks. He was African American male, white shirt, blue jeans, tan boots with ball cap on. Some people said it appeared he was wearing gloves.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators launch a manhunt using helicopters, K9 units and officers in squad cars and on foot. At the crime scene, the coroner arrives.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

The coroner's office was able to grab his wallet and then somebody ran his plate on his car, hold his name up in the driver's license registry. We looked at his picture and yes, this is who it is.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The victim is 38 year old Adan Khatami, a resident of nearby Antioch.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We didn't know if this was road rage and certainly with somebody getting out of a car and shooting, that theory was floated.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Adan was born on April 13, 1978 and raised along with his brother and sister in San Francisco.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

Adan was a very confident, very bright child. He did very well in school. Adan's father, he was a grocery owner. If you knew him, you knew why Adan was such an incredible strong person because his father had those similar traits.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

From a young age he always pushed himself to like, strive to be more and strive to be better.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

As a teenager, Adan was ambitious, but knew his path wouldn't be an academic one.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

His mother signed off so that he could take his ged and he passed with flying colors, got very high marks on the ged. We started working for the Sears company in the washing machine, refrigerator department. Within like three months he was their top seller. And he was only 16 years old, so he was already a little entrepreneur at that age.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Years later, the 20 year old salesman reconnected with a childhood friend named Selena. They dated and soon had a baby boy on the way.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

I don't think he was looking to be a parent at that age, but Once it happened, it was just a whole new world for him.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

He definitely did love his son very much. He always wanted to show him like the best things ever in his life.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The relationship didn't last, but the young couple worked together to raise their son.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

Adan Jr. Everything was pretty amicable. They were very good at co parenting.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Throughout his twenties, Adan kept his nose to the grindstone.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

By the time he was 21, he was very interested in real estate and he and a group of friends purchased a strip mall. I mean, he was his own man. Even at that very young age, he was very busy out in the world. He wanted to be financially independent, so he worked very hard to get there.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

By his early 30s, Adan had reconnected with a childhood friend, 29 year old Monica Palau.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

When I first met him, it was just strictly friendship. We had met up again, like years and years later, and then that's when we kind of, you know, clicked.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

They fell in love and welcomed a daughter.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

After I had her, we were like, together, but then we would go off and on. It was definitely like a co parenting. We would just share her like every other weekend. Our daughter was like kind of like a little spinning image of him and they just kind of had their little bond.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

It was really nice to see Adan and the relationship that he had with his daughter, it just kind of softened certain edges around him when he was with her and she just loved her daddy.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

He was just like a very like, loving, caring person. He would always wanting people to like, strive to be like their best. He would just like kind of like go, go, go. He didn't ever want to, you know, rest.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

In 2016, when California legalized cannabis for recreational use, Adan saw the business opportunity he'd been waiting for.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Dispensaries were popping up left and right, and he had wanted to open the cannabis dispensary.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

Adan was involved in researching medical marijuana and how he could bring something like that to his community. In San Francisco, however, breaking into the.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Wildly popular dispensary business was no easy task.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

He had to go through the state like the city of San Francisco, having to get signatures for the people that were in the surrounding areas. But Adan was excited about putting in the work to, like, get it open. Then he spoke of how it would be so, you know, beneficial because his children would be well off.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

But less than a year into planning his future business, Adan's dreams come to an end in a hail of midday gunfire.

[Detective/Interviewer]

It's shocking when it happens in the middle of Broad daylight, literally in front of families. It sort of escalates it for the police as well.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

As far as crime scenes go, there were shell casings across that area. Everything was contained to the truck besides the shell casings.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Even for the seasoned detectives, a shooting this brazen is unusual.

[Detective/Interviewer]

It was not a robbery because nothing was missing, nothing was taken. The shooter ran up to the car and fired shots into the car and then ra.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

The question is why? Right? And so everybody immediately thought, oh, this is road rage. Like, right, guy got mad and just lost his temper and shot the guy. It was all over the news that day.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

As the manhunt continues, detectives pull surveillance video from a business near the intersection.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The liquor store that's right at the corner. I knew from previous experience of working in that area that they have fantastic surveillance. So I went into the liquor store and went into the back and watched the video to try to get a better description of the shooter.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

We literally had a front row seat to see exactly how it happened. As Adonis truck pulls in that left hand turn lane, we see a red Jeep guy get out of the passenger side, passenger front, literally walk up to the back window and just begin shooting into the car.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators issue another bolo, this time for the Jeep.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We could not see the driver. It was a red Jeep wrangler, so it was a pretty distinct vehicle.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Then detectives get word that a potential shooter has just been spotted.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Detectives were coming down one of these, you know, meandering streets. He sees this black male kind of lightly jogging down the sidewalk.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The guy matched the description. He's wearing blue jeans and jogging down the road and looking over his shoulder. He was nervous.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

That guy looks like he's sweating. We're thinking, okay, maybe that's him, that's the guy.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Coming up. A tight lipped suspect makes a bizarre request.

[Detective/Interviewer]

He asked if he would go straight to death row. He didn't want to spend a lot of time in prison.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Later, detectives uncover a high stakes business.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Venture and said, I think I'm going to get screwed in this deal.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Less than an hour after 38 year old Adan Khatami was gunned down, the Alameda Sheriff's Department gets their first potential break when authorities apprehend a man meeting the description of the shooter a mile and a half away.

[Detective/Interviewer]

One of the detectives first just asked him, you know, where he was and what was going on.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The man identifies himself as 46 year old Johnny Wright.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

The officer kind of does a terry frisk on him. He feels like a ball of something in his pocket. And he goes like, hey, man, what is this? He said, it's gloves. That's when some of the witnesses start showing up. He was detained at that time to identify him. Witness said the suspect was wearing gloves, Johnny was handcuffed, and he's detained so that we could either include him or exclude him as being a possible suspect.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The officers request eyewitnesses complete a field lineup.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

We can't move the suspect, but he can be detained temporarily. There was a few people that did field show ups that day identifying him. I remember those boots. That's him. That's like, that's the guy.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

With several witnesses IDing Johnny as the shooter, police prepare to take him in. But then the officer overhears a conversation.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

In the backseat, and the officer runs around the car. Johnny hangs up the phone. He's like, hey, man, you can't be having your cell phone talking back here. He takes the cell phone from him.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

At the station, the officer hands the phone over to detectives as evidence. They question Johnny to find out who was on the receiving end of that phone call. But he quickly takes their interview in an unexpected direction.

[Detective/Interviewer]

He asked if we had the death penalty and if there was a district attorney present that could essentially write up a plea agreement at that time where he would go straight to death row because he didn't want to spend a lot of time in prison waiting to be executed.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

We said, well, this is California. We don't use the death penalty here. So, like, that's not going to happen. He's like, if you can't do that, I'm not doing anything. I'm done talking. It's not like you interview people on the regular that are just like, oh, I'll sign a full confession and, yeah, I want the death penalty. It's like, where did this come from?

[Detective/Interviewer]

Johnny Wright is the only person I've ever interviewed that has asked for the death chamber. On day one, we told him he was under arrest for murder. And Johnny, he invoked his rights to an attorney.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The fact that Johnny offered to sign a confession appears to detectives to be an admission of guilt. But his interview leaves investigators with few answers.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

What in the world does this guy have to do with this guy? Adan Katami? There's no identifiable connection between the two of them.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

While looking for answers, detectives suddenly get word that the red Jeep has been spotted. Three miles from the crime scene.

[Business Associate or Community Member]

Another.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Detective happened to see a red Jeep Wrangler and a woman standing outside smoking a cigarette. He stopped and asked her if that was her Jeep. She said that it Wasn't her Jeep, but it was her boyfriend's Jeep. And when asked what the boyfriend's name was, she said Johnny Wright.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

She was very polite, she was very cooperative and she talked to them. Where are you from? Oh, I'm not from around here. I'm from Tennessee.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The woman identifies herself as 25 year old chariot Burks of Memphis, Tennessee.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We told Chariot that Johnny was detained and we asked her to come back to the station and give us a statement. At that point we knew that Johnny got out of the car and shot Adan, but we didn't know if Chariot knew that Johnny was going to do this or what Chariot's overall involvement was other than she drove the Jeep. She said that she and Johnny were pretty close and Johnny asked her to drive to California. Johnny had a family member that lived in the Sacramento river delta.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

She says they arrived a week ago.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We asked her, since you came to California to right now, tell us everything that happened.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Cherriet tells them that morning Johnny asked her to drive the Jeep to the intersection of Meekland and Blossom.

[Detective/Interviewer]

She told us that Johnny started putting on rubber gloves and that she heard the slosk of the gun rack as he chambered around before he got out of the Jeep. She said that she did not see the shooting, that she was driving, but she heard the shots.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

She says Johnny ran off and she drove away.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Essentially she got tired of driving around and pulled into a commercial lot where there was businesses and was just waiting on a call from Johnny.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We asked her if it was road rage. We asked her if they had followed Adan. At first she said that it could have been road rage, but then she said that it wasn't road rage, that they were not following him. Her explanation as to why Adan, why this intersection, didn't make any sense. We were trying to explain to her that what she was saying did not add up.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

She insists that she has no idea who Adan Khatami is.

[Detective/Interviewer]

She was adamant at a certain point that that was all that she knew. I really didn't know what to believe of what she said. She didn't do a very good job explaining to us what happened after the interview with Chariot. We believe there was probable cause to place her under arrest for the homicide because she was a driver, which would fall into the felony murder rule.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Decided despite two arrests within hours of the murder. Investigators have more questions than answers.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We had the people that were responsible for the act of shooting a don. Two people drove across the country from Tennessee and shot a man in a busy intersection and the man that they shot had no connection to them. It didn't feel random anymore. We didn't really know why they made the choices that they made.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Hoping to find a link, investigators request a search warrant for Johnny's cell phone records. They then turn their attention to the victim, Adan Khatami.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

We immediately do a victimology. Who is this guy? Where is he from? Like, what has he done in his past?

[Detective/Interviewer]

He was working and taking care of his daughter and he was a family guy.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators consider whether Adan's personal life played a role in his murder.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Most people that are victims of a homicide know their assailant. When the parent or co parent of a kid gets murdered, you have to at least look at a former relationship. In this case Monica, who's the mother of his daughter. Until you're not a suspect, everyone's a suspect.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

You start at a dawn and you're gonna start working your way out on crimes like this. When like you, you have an ex, they're always going to be suspect number one. Right, because there's a motive already laid out for you.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Within a few hours of the murder of Adan Khatami, investigators have two suspects in custody. Driver Chariot Burks and alleged shooter Johnny Wright.

[Detective/Interviewer]

It seemed like what happened to Adan wasn't random. There's some sort of connection to the assailant. So then we started to look into connections to Adan.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Detectives reach out to Monica Palau, the mother of Adan's four year old daughter.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

I drove to where it happened and the police just said, go home and then we'll come to you like later.

[Detective/Interviewer]

We wanted to see where, where she was at that time and to see how she reacted to our interview. So we went and we talked to her at her home.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Monica shares a chilling revelation about the day of Adan's murder.

[Detective/Interviewer]

When we interviewed Monica, she was the one that told us that he was on the way to retrieve their daughter.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

That morning that he passed, I got a call from one of his friends and they were just like, have you talked to Adan? I think that he got in an accident or something. I said, is he okay? And then they were like, no, it was like fatal. The time frame of how close it was to Adan picking his daughter up from school was like, literally like so scary. It was like a complete shock. I just gave them whatever information that I had, but I wasn't very helpful outside of the family. He really didn't involve me much with other things that had to do with his own personal life.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

That definitely paid even more credibility to the fact that she was just completely blown away at this whole thing. If she's hiring somebody to kill her ex, right, do you want that to be done while he's going to pick his daughter up from school? You're not put your child in danger.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Through her interview, we were able to rule out Monica.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Police also look into Selena, the mother of Adan's son.

[Detective/Interviewer]

There was no custody dispute, none of the things that you would typically see in a former relationship homicide. Sue were able to eliminate the mothers of both of his children very quickly.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators reach out to Adan's loved ones.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

We had the conversation early in the investigation with Adan's family to say, you know, does he have any enemies? And they were like, no.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

The police questioned a lot of people, his mother, his sister. But the Family really didn't know how this had happened.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

They tell investigators that the only trouble Adan had recently was in his professional life.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Adan was in the process of trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

He was with some guys that were from Los Angeles and had had started this business.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They wanted to open a little cannabis dispensary business. There was a location that had been picked out in the Excelsior district in San Francisco.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

But Adan found the highly competitive industry more difficult to navigate than he'd imagined.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

The laws in California are very strict, and you have to really know what.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

You'Re doing in San Francisco and in other counties. You need to get a conditional use permit to open a marijuana dispensary.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

After Adan sunk money into renting the space, he and his LA partners ran into issues.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

The property owner of the building that they wanted to use got screwed out of some money from the gentleman from Southern California. He knew Adon was tied to them, so he wasn't really eager to do business with Adon.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Soon Adon cut ties with with the LA group and began seeking a new partner.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Adawn then says, well, hey, let's see if I can make a go at this, right? In comes Takisha.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Takisha Upshaw was born in 1979 and raised in the Bay Area.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

She has half brothers. Her dad got divorced or separated from the boys mom and then he got remarried to Takesha's mom. And then obviously Takisha's a product of their marriage.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

As a young woman, Taquisha set out to forge her own path.

[Business Associate or Community Member]

She wasn't gonna take no for an answer. She was a person that wanted to get something done. She should make it happen.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

When medical marijuana was legalized In California in 1996, Takesha wanted in.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

I would classify Ms. Upshaw as an ambitious entrepreneur.

[Business Associate or Community Member]

She was going to be the first black woman to have a dispensary in San Francisco. I couldn't help but rally behind it.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Takesha worked hard toward her dream.

[Business Associate or Community Member]

Takesha would always look for different ways to work together. Our company launched as the first telemedicine company to serve medical cannabis patients.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Networking would be key to her success.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Takisha seemed to be very close with the president of the NAACP in San Francisco. There's some pictures out there with her with like the interim chief of San Francisco pd.

[Business Associate or Community Member]

She was very charismatic. Whether it was at the police stations, talking to the constituents and people, the neighborhood, addressing their concerns.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Takisha had the connections. Now she just needed a business partner.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Adon and Takisha Upshaw had met at a club, according to some of his friends, and started talking about the cannabis business. When Adon met Tequisha, she talked about her political connections. And so that's where that sort of marriage for this business was sort of consummated.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Adan told Takecisha that if she could secure the permit, he would take care of the product.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

I think Adan had a lot of the marijuana connections, and Adan had the lease on the piece of property that they wanted to open the dispensary with a handshake.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

The two became partners in Green God's Compassion dispensary in the fall of 2015.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Takecish's role was to get the community to embrace this dispensary.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

He was the partner sort of behind the scenes, and she was the public face of it.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

A lot of the money that's coming from behind is actually at Dawn's to pay for, you know, renovations and lighting and painting and all the business permits.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They thought that the San Francisco Planning Commission was going to approve their conditional use permit to open this dispensary.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

After almost a year of working together. The hearing for their permit was scheduled for July 17, just four days after Adan was killed. But Adan's family tells detectives he'd begun to have doubts about Takesha.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

When Adhan and Kesha started this venture, he was the sole owner. At some later point in time, he put her name on the business, but then she wanted more, and he was not willing to just hand over the business. So things started to deteriorate.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They were 50, 50 partners on a handshake, and they were supposed to get it memorialized by a lawyer. And as he's repeatedly requesting these meetings, she wasn't returning his calls. He felt, I think he was being sort of iced out.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Adan's family explained that his distrust turned into fearing Taquisha's every move.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Adon later went to his uncle and said, like, I think I'm gonna get screwed in this deal. I have all this money out there, but she could just walk away with this whole thing. His uncle said, well, if she does that, we'll sue her, because we can prove that you have this much money invested in it.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

By the summer of 2016, tension between the partners had hit a boiling point, and Adan told Takesha he wanted out.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Adan demanded to be bought out of the business for a million dollars.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Now investigators are determined to find out. Could the falling out have anything to do with Adan's murder?

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Once Adan's Family talked to the police, the investigators, about Adan's business partner. The questioning became, well, who is this person? Where does she live? You know, what is she all about? And they started to look at her.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators now question if there's any connection between the shooter, Johnny Wright, and Takisha Upshaw. One week after Adan's murder, the warrant on Johnny's cell phone finally comes through.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Johnny's phone is a burner phone. It's not registered to anybody. It appears like it was just activated, like, 10, 15 days earlier. There's very, very few text messages. And the person that they're Texting is this 530 number. 530 is for area code from Northern California. So write a search Warrant for the 500 number. And this is also the burner phone.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators trace the location of the calls made from the second phone.

[Detective/Interviewer]

So when you make a phone call, send a text message, your phone reaches out and uses a cell tower, and that creates a record.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They were looking at the location that these calls were made to. It became obvious that this burner phone was making calls from where Shatish Upshaw lived in the Bay Area. So it became, well, let's look in to see who Johnny Wright was in touch with and did they have any connection to Mr. Katami. And that came down to only one person, which was Ms. Upshaw.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Coming up, detectives suspect Takesha has a more illicit business venture.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

I don't think it was her groceries that he loaded in the duffel bag. Right.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Will a sting finally yield answers? Investigators have just discovered that days before Adan Khatami was gunned down, alleged shooter Johnny Wright was communicating on a burner phone near the home of Adan's former business partner, Takisha Upshaw.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Johnny's burner phone was very close from the cell towers from Ms. Upshaw's house, sometimes zeroed in on her house.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

On Aug. 1, investigators obtain a warrant to surveil Takisha's. For the next several months, they keep a close eye on the budding entrepreneur.

[Detective/Interviewer]

There was duffel bags that came out from her house and put into a car.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

At that point, we can only speculate. I don't think it was her groceries that he loaded in the duffel bag. Right. And we thought most likely probably drugs, but we were dealing with a bigger crime here than they have a murder here. Conspiracy to commit murder.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

As the surveillance continues, detectives find a possible connection between Tekesha and Johnny Wright.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

What I found out is that Takisha's dad portion of the family was based out of Tennessee. Johnny was also from Memphis, connecting Takisha to Tennessee. It was a big moment that was definitely an aha moment. Like, okay, now. Now it's making sense.

[Detective/Interviewer]

When you have all of these factors, there's ample probable cause to get her phone records.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

So that's when the real work began with the cell phones. Ultimately, it was establishing that she may have had a motive to commit this crime. Now let's do an investigation, see what it was.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

With remaining questions on motive, detectives use cell records and spot a clear connection between Tekesha's personal cell phone and the burner phone used to communicate with Johnny Wright.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

We know this person on the other end of this 530 number is directly involved.

[Detective/Interviewer]

So once we got the phone records for Takisha's real phone, we were able to see that the cell site usage matched up with the burner phone, this 530 number.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Detectives determine that for nearly two weeks prior to Adan's murder, Takesha's personal cell phone and the burner phone traveled in lockstep. Then, 12 days before Adan's murder, Takesha took a trip.

[Detective/Interviewer]

So both phones traveled to Berkeley. We were able to figure out that those phones traveled to a very close friend of Tekesha's, to his home. The person whose house she went to is a guy named Wesley Brown.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Later, Takesha's phone went back home, but the burner phone remained in Berkeley with Wesley Brown.

[Detective/Interviewer]

The burner phone calls Johnny's phone from Berkeley. They have a very brief conversation, and then the burner phone is powered off. But immediately after that conversation, Wesley's real phone calls Takesha's real phone, and they have a conversation.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Wesley was sort of the middleman, taking calls from Johnny Wright and relaying potential information back to him.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Three hours before the murder, the burner phone makes a final call.

[Detective/Interviewer]

There's a return call from Wesley to Takesha, and then the burner phone goes off the network forever. And that sets in motion Adon's murder.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Almost six months after Adan's murder, detectives go to Takesha's home armed with an arrest warrant.

[Detective/Interviewer]

There was probable cause to say that this phone belongs to Takesha. And these records will likely show that a felony was committed and this person committed it.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

When Takesha was arrested, we obviously formed a search warrant at her house. In the basement of her home was sophisticated indoor marijuana grow.

[Detective/Interviewer]

She was growing it illegally and selling.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

It illegally at the same time. Wesley Brown is arrested at his home on felony murder charges for his role in Adan's death.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They arrested Wesley Brown and Takisha Upshaw simultaneously because they didn't want one to get arrested and tell the other and get their story straight.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

At the station, Takisha refuses to talk.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

She, like, just stone cold sat there and said, okay, I want my attorney.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Investigators find Wesley Brown only slightly more forthcoming.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

He gave us a little bit of, like, hey, we've been friends since we were kids. He played around the subject game and avoided everything. It wasn't until we brought the cell phone records out and kind of told him, like, hey, look, we know you're lying because of X, Y, and Z.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Working off a hunch that Wesley and Tekesha might talk to each other, detectives place them in neighboring cells along with a recording device.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Neither Wesley nor Takeisha knew there were recorders. We were hoping that he would talk to her.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Are they gone?

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

So what's going on?

[Family Member or Close Friend]

I have no idea.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

They got me on murder. Why they're using all the cell phone technology.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Wesley's asking her, like, like, what the hell's going on? She says, don't say anything. I'll get us both great attorneys.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Don't say nothing. I mean, I ain't going to, but they already know.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

I don't think you should be talking.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Right now telling someone. Maybe you shouldn't be saying that. The criminal implications become pretty clear.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

Yes.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Prosecutors move forward, charging them both with premeditated murder. Johnny Wright and Chariot Burks remain behind bars. Even in light of Takisha's arrest, Johnny's lips remain sealed.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Johnny Wright, the one thing he never did was admit in any way that Ms. Upshaw had. Had hired him to do it.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Coming up, will a jury be swayed by Takisha's charms?

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Submitted pictures of her with a lot of who's who of San Francisco.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

And a tragic twist comes out. At trial.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

She had Adan killed over a business that was worth nothing.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

By 2019, authorities plan to hold Takisha Upshaw and her co conspirators accountable for the murder of Adan Khatami. But in the end, the prosecution is forced to make a difficult decision.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

There was a strong suspicion that Wesley Brown helped aid and abet the murder. But ultimately, the murder charges as to Wesley Brown were dismissed. I didn't feel comfortable proceeding on a murder charge against him because I did not believe I could prove his involvement beyond a reasonable doubt. When he was arrested and his house was searched, there was some illegal parts of firearms, I think some ammunition. So he ended up pleading guilty to that charge and being released before the trial.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Takesha's trial begins in October of 2019. Prosecutors allege that the tension between Tekesha and Adan escalated as the hearing date for the dispensary permit grew closer.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Adan was asking her, like, hey, I don't like where this is going. Why don't you just buy me out of this thing? Give me a million bucks and I'll back out.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Why? Adon wanted to be bought out for the amount that he did. Both Adan and Ms. Upshaw thought they had something that if they were allowed to open, they would have made lots of money. But that number wasn't something she could come up with. And it was cheaper for her to hire a hitman to kill him. She made a calculation. So the drive to commit a crime like this comes back to, you know, your. Your deadly sins, greed, convincing yourself that you're gonna have this successful business and not wanting to share it with anybody.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Prosecutors argue that Tekesha turned to her connections in the Memphis drug world to find a hitman.

[Detective/Interviewer]

Takesha was communicating with somebody in Memphis, and that person was heavily in touch with Johnny's phones. So there was somebody in Memphis that was connection between Takesha and Johnny. The single biggest part of this case that linked Takesha to Johnny was the phones. It was the burner phones along with her real phone.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

Then prosecutors drop a bombshell. They reveal that just days after Adan's murder, Takisha got news about the much anticipated permit.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

The planning Commission ended up ruling 70 against opening this dispensary. This particular location literally was two doors down from a neighborhood where young kids go to school. And at the planning commission meeting, I mean, the neighborhood came out in force to speak out against this dispensary. The toughest part about this whole case is the fact that. That she had Adan killed over a business that was worth nothing.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

With Wesley Brown's involvement never proven, Takesha's defense tries to pin him as the real mastermind.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

The murder charges as to him were dismissed, conveniently allowing Ms. Upshaw to say it was him, it was the guy you dismissed. She never took accountability for any of this. She has held out herself as innocent, even went so far, testifying during the trial that, you know, she loved Adon and she was sad by this whole thing.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

When the trial is complete, the jury adjourns to deliberate Takesha's fate.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Ms. Upshaw was convicted of first degree murder with an enhancement that she did for financial gain. Ms. Upshaw was sentenced to life in prison.

[Lead Investigator/Detective]

As for Takesha's co conspirators, both accept plea deals.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

Johnny Wright pled guilty to first degree murder. He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. Chariot Burks pled guilty to accessory to murder and was old. Ultimately sentenced and released after the trial.

[Family Member (possibly Adan's mother or close relative)]

Adhan was taken from his family, from his children, from his friends, his community. For what? There was nothing to gain by it at all.

[Family Member or Close Friend]

It just changed our lives, like in such a big way and it was just so unnecessary. It's just been devastating, you know, but he's still here with us and it's okay. We feel him and he's a strong source, so he definitely has been with us.

[Narrator/Host]

In 2002, Takisha Upshaw's appeal was denied. She is currently housed at Central California Women's Facility.

[Promotional Voice for Mystic and the Mayor Podcast]

The town of Agda in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex. But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's a mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.

[Case Analyst/Reporter]

I am the Archangel Michael.

[Promotional Voice for Mystic and the Mayor Podcast]

The whole town has been thrown into.

[Supporting Investigator/Officer]

Chaos as the mayor is unable to carry out his duties. I would like to address you all. Legal proceedings have been initiated.

[Promotional Voice for Mystic and the Mayor Podcast]

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[Narrator/Host]

Applause.