22-year-old facing charges for stabbing inside hotel
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A woman accused of stabbing her date in a Las Vegas-area hotel room in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian leader is on house arrest in Texas, but police there said they were never made aware as she has left home to make music and videos.
A Clark County grand jury indicted Nika Nikoubin, 22, on charges of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon because of certain, actual or perceived characteristics of a person, and two counts of battery, records showed.
Henderson police arrested Nikoubin, a University of Texas at Dallas student, shortly after the stabbing on March 5 at Sunset Station. Nikoubin and the male victim met online on the dating website Plenty of Fish, Henderson police wrote in an arrest report. The duo then agreed to meet at the hotel, booking a room together, police said.
While in the room, the pair began engaging in sexual activity, when Nikoubin put a blindfold on the victim, police said. Nikoubin then turned off the lights, and several seconds later, stabbed the victim in the neck, documents said.
While speaking to officers, Nikoubin said she wanted to get revenge for the drone strike, which killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
During a hearing Monday, a police representative for the Texas university said they nor any department in the region knew Nikoubin was on house arrest in their jurisdictions.
“That has sparked immediate concerns for the safety of the campus along with the community,” Rod Bishop said. “We found out that no law enforcement agency knew that she was under house arrest in our city or attending the university out here.”
Bishop told the court his department became aware of Nikoubin’s criminal charges in Clark County when a reporter attempted to interview her about her singing career. When that report Googled her, they found news articles about the attempted murder charge, Bishop said.
Bishop also expressed concerns about a Henderson Justice Court judge’s finding in 2022 that Nikoubin was a “danger to the community.” The judge allowed Nikoubin to await trial in Texas with stipulations, including a 6 p.m. curfew, excluding work and education.
Judge Carli Kierny added it appeared the Dallas-based agency monitoring Nikoubin was only tracking her location, not checking to see if she potentially violated her curfew or other provisions.
Nikoubin’s attorney, Alanna Brody, told the court her client has stayed out of trouble and defined her singing appearances as work under the previous judge’s determination.
“Ms. Nikoubin does get paid for those events,” Brody said. “That is part of her employment. In addition, she does work at a restaurant. She’s employed in both ways but when she does attend these singing events she gets paid for them.”
Nikoubin recently released a music video for a song called “Spaceman” under the name Nika Borouj.
The 8 News Now Investigators obtained body camera video in December, showing officers talking to Nikoubin before her arrest.
“I guess out of spite and revenge,” she told the officer when he asked why she stabbed the victim.
“What do you mean by that? Like, why?” the officer asked.
“I mean the U.S. killed Soleimani. Lots of blood spilled,” she said. “So, I feel like, it’s fair that American blood be spilled.”
Soleimani was a popular Iranian military officer and right-hand man to the country’s supreme leader. Former President Donald Trump called for Soleimani’s assassination to kill “the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world” to protect “American diplomats and military personnel” worldwide.
“I don’t know. I just felt like somebody on American soil should die because he also died,” Nikoubin told police.
The stabbing victim was able to speak to investigators that same night. Photos show his injuries, which included at least two puncture wounds to his neck.
Nikoubin’s attorneys have filed paperwork to try to get her attempted murder charge dropped, saying “Nikoubin specifically stated she did not wish to kill [the victim], but only wanted to ‘hurt him.’” They write the grand jury “was likely confused about the elements of the crime.”
“Additionally, Ms. Nikoubin’s alleged conduct, namely nicking [the victim] with a knife in a manner that caused such minor injuries that [the victim] did not even require medical treatment (other than a tetanus shot), can hardly be said to be an “act or acts which tend, but fail, to kill a human being,” they said.
Nikoubin has pleaded not guilty. A trial was scheduled for July. The hearing on the house arrest issue was continued until Wednesday.