"Our first priority, of course, was to have him tried here…. But we're stuck in a position where we have to cooperate with [Armenia's] prosecution office to get a resolution to this," Glendale Police Det. Craig Tweedy said.
Tweedy and Glendale Police Det. Tigran Topadzhikyan, left for Armenia on Sunday night.
They are extending their services to the prosecution in the event that it has any questions about the case or needs additional information, Tweedy said.
And there will be at least one other person in Armenia closely following the trial — Odet Tsaturyan's father, Shagen Tsaturyan.
He left for Armenia on Friday night, with a plane ticket paid for by the Glendale Police Officers Assn. and Glendale's St. Peter Armenian Church Youth Ministries' Center.
"We know how important it is to have the family at this hearing, because it brings home the loss to people," said Glendale Police Sgt. Mario Marchman, police association president.
The association is donating $1,000 to the Tsaturyan family, who otherwise would have not been able to pay for the plane ticket, Marchman said.
The youth ministries' center will likely donate another $500, Tweedy said.
"It's not a question of who is right or who is wrong, it's the question of some family that really just needed some assistance," said Fr. Vazken Movsesian of the ministry.
"When you think about the tragedy that happened to that poor girl, this is nothing in comparison."
Odet Tsaturyan left her family's home at about 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 for a party. She never arrived.
That same night, Khanzadyan, left his home at 6:30 p.m. and did not return.
Police believe Odet Tsaturyan got into an argument with Khanzadyan before leaving her house that day, then agreed to meet him in Southwest Glendale, where her abandoned car was found on Sept. 13.
