LAGUNA NIGUEL : Boyfriend in Court in Woman’s Slaying

A man suspected of killing his former lover by ramming her car then setting her afire appeared in South Orange County Municipal Court on Tuesday with a gash on his face and both hands bandaged from burns.

Arraignment for Hossein Ghaffari, 34, was continued until Feb. 23. He was denied bail and will remain in Orange County Jail.

Ghaffari is suspected of killing Narges (Manijeh) Bolouri, 35, in front of her Laguna Hills home on Friday.

Ghaffari, who told police that he is from Canada, is believed to be living in this country illegally, Municipal Judge Pamela Iles said.

But his citizenship will not affect trial proceedings, Deputy Dist. Atty. Bernadette Cemore said.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies have said Ghaffari deliberately rammed his car headlong into the driver’s side of Bolouri’s parked vehicle as she was leaving for work. Moments later, he allegedly started a fire that killed her, leaving behind traces of an unidentified flammable substance.

Cemore said the suspect was last known to be living with relatives in South Orange County but would not say where.

At the hearing, a man who identified himself only as a friend of Ghaffari speculated that the suspect had become consumed with jealousy when Bolouri announced her engagement to a Vista doctor whom she had known for less than three months.