Suspected murder weapon, alleged affair discussed in quadruple murder trial

HAMILTON, Ohio (WXIX) - Gurpreet Singh was back in the courtroom Wednesday as detectives unpacked bags of evidence, including the suspected murder weapon.

A detective said the murder weapon shown to the three-judge panel was a Ruger SR9.

That weapon, according to the prosecution, is what killed Gurpreet Singh’s wife and three of her family members: His wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, 39; her parents Parmjit Kaur, 62, and Hakiakat Singh Pannag, 59, and his wife’s aunt, Amarjit Kaur, 58.

Prosecutors showed the weapon and discussed how serial numbers had been ground or drilled off the side of the gun.

They said they found the weapon at the bottom of a pond near the West Chester apartment complex on Wyndtree Drive.

Prosecutors also brought up Gurpreet Singh’s alleged affair with a woman in Indiana. A woman they say he gave thousands of dollars to so she could buy a home.

Detectives took the stand to verify documentation related to the home, the payment and their alleged affair.

They even went through pictures of the home, but it was the prosecution that had the most to say about their relationship in opening statements.

“This defendant was engaged in a long-term sexual affair with another woman who lived in Indianapolis, Indiana,” the prosecutor stated. “This court will hear evidence that during the course of that affair, this defendant was providing his mistress with $20,000 in cash to purchase her own home.”

Two witnesses who lived in the apartment community took the stand Wednesday to testify.

The first lived nearby and claimed to have seen a man in a red shirt inside the apartment. The second witness is the one that heard a splash the night of the murders which is what led officers to the murder weapon.

Day 2 of Trial

The attorney for the man accused of gunning down four relatives at their West Chester apartment said their client was there on the night of the murders, but he did not commit the crime.

Gurpreet Singh is in the midst of a bench trial and since this is a capital case, a three-judge panel will decide his innocence or guilt.

Prosecutors say Singh, now 41, killed his wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, 39; her parents Parmjit Kaur, 62, and Hakiakat Singh Pannag, 59 and his wife’s aunt, Amarjit Kaur, 58, on the evening of April 28, 2019, at the Lakefront at West Chester apartment complex on Wyndtree Drive.

Shalinderjit Kaur’s sons, Jasdeep Singh and Garry Hans, traveled hundreds of miles to be in the courtroom.

Tuesday, the two sons had to remove themselves from the courtroom.

“The worst part is looking at those pictures,” said Jasdeep Singh. “It’s really hard again and again watching those blood and all those bullets. It’s really hard. Even we can’t see them. We have to move out of the court for that.”

In the five years since losing their mom, Hans says her death has not gotten any easier.

“It’s been five years,” Hans explained. “Every day we cry and fight for justice.”

Inside the courtroom, prosecutors tried to quash the defense’s opening statements, where they claimed someone, other than Gurpreet Singh, forced their way into the apartment.

Prosecution: “Did you also inspect the door to see if you found anything or any marks of forced entry, where someone kicked in or used a tool or some other instrument to get this door open?”

Sgt. Eric Couch: “I did not see any indications that the door was kicked, or any kind of tool was used to open the door.”

The prosecution questioned the witness as if the door was busted down when it was completely closed.

The defense thinks the door may have been opened slightly with the security chain at the top attached to prevent someone from entering.

In one picture, the defense said you can see part of the door frame hanging from the security chain that is still attached to the door.

Defense: “If the door is maybe cracked open with the security chain locked, would that be consistent with what you found if someone had ripped that or pushed it open and that ripped off the door?”

Sgt. Couch: “It appears that somebody opened the door with the chain on it.”

The prosecution called one other witness to the stand Tuesday. It was one of the first officers on the scene. They reviewed some of his body camera footage while he was on the stand.

Day three of the trial resumes Wednesday.

Background

Singh has long maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to four counts of aggravated murder.

On the night of the killings, West Chester police questioned Singh as a witness but did not take him into custody or arrest him.

Singh called 911 around 10 p.m. that night and told a dispatcher he came home and found four relatives on the ground, bleeding from the head.

“They’re all down..... No one’s talking. No one’s talking,” he said on the call, which was released to FOX19 NOW through a public record request. “They’re bleeding.”

Singh was arrested in Connecticut less than three months later, in July 2019, and indicted the following month.

At his first trial, his public defenders claimed another man was the real suspect, claiming that person was part of the “India Land Mafia.”

Relatives of the victims believe Singh is the killer and have repeatedly called for justice.

Taxpayers are footing the bill again for Singh’s legal expenses because he was declared indigent and this is a death penalty case.

All this taxpayer money that may be spent on the death penalty portion of this trial, if Singh is convicted, ultimately could be a moot point.

Gov. Mike DeWine halted the death penalty in Ohio in 2020. He said there weren’t enough lethal injection drugs available unless state lawmakers picked an alternative execution method.

The last prisoner put to death in Ohio was a local man, Robert Van Hook, 58, of Sharonville.

He was executed on July 18, 2018, more than 30 years after murdering a man he met in a bar in downtown Cincinnati in what prosecutors say was a particularly vicious and gruesome slaying.

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