Closing arguments to begin in capital trial of man charged in killings of wife, her family

Five people entered a Wyndtree Drive apartment in April 2019 but just one survived.

That’s how prosecutors have described the killing of a Sikh family in West Chest Township and the involvement of Gurpreet Singh – the sole survivor.

At issue now is whether a three-judge panel is convinced of 41-year-old Singh’s guilt, or if they buy the defense’s theory that someone else pulled the trigger.

The judges are expected to hear closing arguments Friday morning in Singh’s second capital murder trial in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Singh is accused of executing his wife, her parents and her aunt visiting from India. He is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

He was previously tried in late 2022, but the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and a mistrial was declared.

Four people were killed at the Lakefront apartment complex on April 28, 2019:

• Shalinderjit Kaur, 39, Singh's wife.

• Parmjit Kaur, 62, Singh's mother-in-law.

• Amarjit Kaur, 58, Singh's wife's aunt.

• Hakiakat Singh Pannag, 59, Singh's father-in-law.

Each of the victims was shot multiple times in the head, with a total of 16 gunshot wounds between them, according to Hamilton County Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Karen Looman, who performed their autopsies.

At trial, prosecutors painted a picture of family relationships strained by money troubles and an expensive affair, saying Singh was the only one with the motive and opportunity to carry out the killings without raising an alarm.

Singh gunned down his father-in-law who was asleep in bed and executed his wife while standing overtop of her, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors called 34 witnesses over eight days, including Singh’s ex-mistress, who confirmed Singh gave her $20,000 toward the downpayment of a house in Indianapolis, helped with her mortgage and even bought her a vehicle.

Singh also bought a house on the same street as his mistress, where he planned to move his family, and visited the home with relatives weeks after the killings, according to testimony.

Prosecutors said Singh’s relationship with his father-in-law had grown tense due to Singh’s repeated demands for money.

Amrik Tiwana, a member of the local Sikh community and associate of Pannag’s, testified about an early 2019 meeting in which Pannag indicated he was scared and showed bruises he claimed Singh had caused.

However, Singh’s attorneys said he witnessed an unknown attacker kill his family and pointed to an ongoing legal dispute over the sale of land in India as another possible motive for the killings. Singh did not testify in his defense.

His attorneys say the dispute over Pannag’s land put his business partners, one of whom faced criminal extradition to the U.S., at risk of losing over $1 million worth of investments.

That’s backed up by Parmjit Kaur’s affidavit seeking to cancel her nephew’s power of attorney status because he received threats and no longer wanted to represent the family. Her travel itinerary also indicated she planned to fly to India just two days after the shooting.

Investigators were able to confirm that neither of Pannag’s former business partners were in the U.S. at the time of the killings, according to Detective Jason Flick. However, Singh’s attorneys say one of those men had connections in Butler County.

Alex Deardorff, one of Singh’s attorneys, said Singh is on trial for one simple reason: he lied.

Singh lied to police about his affair and about being home during the incident, with prosecutors pointing to evidence showing he entered the apartment almost 30 minutes before reporting the shooting to 911.

He told detectives during a recorded interview that he’d just arrived home when he found the apartment door open and his family on the floor bleeding.

Singh initially cooperated with investigators’ efforts to establish a timeline but grew agitated and tried to leave after being asked to submit to a gunshot residue swab, the video shows.

Police eventually performed the swab after obtaining a search warrant and Singh was found to have gunshot residue on his hands.

While that could mean Singh fired the gun, it could also come from him being near a gun when it was fired or from touching a surface with residue on it, said Ted Manasian, a trace evidence analyst with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Shortly after the shooting, investigators found the murder weapon – a 9mm handgun – submerged in a pond behind Singh’s apartment.

The gun’s serial number was pried off and detectives were unable to trace where it was last purchased and by whom, according to testimony. There was no DNA on the weapon linking it to Singh.

The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Friday with closing arguments, after which the judges will begin deliberating.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Gurpreet Singh capital murder trial: Judges to hear closing arguments