COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County business man was arrested after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation sting, accused of trying to hire a hit man to murder his wife.
The hit man turned out to be an undercover agent.
Joey Nicolella whipped out his smartphone when the raid went down and says he was stunned when agents brought out Amin Zariwala in cuffs.
"Looked out and the GBI and the Cobb County Sheriff's Office was lined up here and going in the door," Nicolella said. "I was totally blown away. I would have never guessed it in a million years, never."
GBI agents said Zariwala wanted his wife dead and, last fall, started looking for a hit man, only to be hooked up with an undercover agent.
Their sting ended with the midday raid Friday.
"I'm totally shocked. I thought he was the sweetest person," said Cathy Taylor.
Taylor told Channel 2's Ross Cavitt that she liked Zariwala's computer and phone repair business so much she followed him from one storefront location in the Town Center area to its new location.
She often talked to him about his wife and two young daughters.
"I thought he was happy and I asked him yesterday, 'How are the babies?' and he said 'Oh, they're great," said Josh Plancher, who knows Zariwala.
On social media, Zariwala posted in glowing and loving terms about his wife and kids, saying his life was priceless, but Nicolella said he occasionally heard another side.
"Yeah, he loved his kids, that's for sure. I know he's had some stress with the wife and stuff like that. He's mentioned it a couple of times over the years, but I never thought it would come to something like this, you know?" Nicolella said.
Zariwala has been charged with criminal solicitation. He is being held without bond in the Cobb County Jail.
WSBTV
