Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
In April 2019, Gurpreet Singh called 911 and reported that he found his wife, her parents, and her aunt shot to death in their apartment in West Chester, Ohio.
A massive police investigation unfolded and quickly police zeroed in on Singh as the prime suspect in the murders of Shalinderjit Kaur, Parmjit Kaur, Hakikat Singh Pannag, and Amarjit Kaur. Singh’s trial would reveal betrayal, an affair and a claim that an Indian land mafia was responsible for the murders.
this is the exact moment when a husband makes a horrifying discovery about his family’s death but what awaited is much more terrifying.
as the officers enter the house of horrors , thet are baffled by the sight that unfolds before them.
however this is just the beginning of one of the sinister plots that would leave even the most seasoned officers schocked.
April 28 , 2019, ohio police received a frantic call from the westchester area.
on the other end was a man desperately seeking help for his family.
the officers rushed to hjis apartment , the site of ther reported fatal incident, only to find a man standing at the entrance
at that moment ,it was unclear who he was .
was he the franticcaller or the sinister perpetrator?
since the cops were not very sure about his intentions they had to be extra cautious.
this devestated person.
was identfied as 37 year old Gurpreet singh.
Indian – origin man who lived here with his wife and three kids along with his in-laws and his wife’s aunt , who was visiting from india at the time.
after securing the entrance, the officers noticed some unusual things, gupreet had no shoes on and his hands , t-shirt arms, and bare socks were covered in saturated blood.
officers were on the move as the people inside the home could be in danger or the killer could stillbe inside.
without wasting any time they would enter the apartment but what awaited them would be nothing short of a horror movie.
the smoke alarm of the home was going off,the officers started searching through the house to find the suspect but instead they made one of the most horrific discoveries of their careers.
the victims were identified as Gurpreet singh’s 39 wife shalinderjit kaur.
her mother 62 year old parmjit kaur hwe 59 year old father hakkat singh pannag and 58 year old amarjit kaur.
all of them were also of indian origin , living in USA.
the only person who could give them some information was Gurpreet; the man who had just found his entire family dead.
Gurpreet was visibly distraught with the loss of his loved ones.
the officers navigated him to the police van in an attempt to make him feel somewhat relaxed so that he could give them some information about the incident.
allready shaken by the devastating discovery he asked the officers a question that left them even more concerned.
Gurpreet three had three kids with his wife.
and the only slightly ocmforting news for the officers that night was that Gurpreet’s kids wer at his brother’s place.
safe and sound.
but the cops still needed answers.
after gathering all the information about Gurpreet’s family and immediate investigation was launched .
firstly , they focused on the murder weapon used in this mass murder.
to find this murde weapon,they interviewed the people around their apartment and one neighbor had heard something that could be useful.
one of the neighbor near the complex told the police that he heard a splash.
the diving team indeed found a gun inside a retention pond behind the apartment.
but the murderer had tried his best to hide his crime.
the firearm they found in the pond had its’ serial number removed which prevented law enforcement from tracking where it was purchased and who the last owner was.
the officers still found something about the gun that linked it to the crime scene.
this particular firearm holds 17 rounds. and the victims in this case have been shot 16 times.
the DNA of Gurpreet’s father in law was also found on the gun but there were no fingerprints.
this indicated that the killer had obtained it from the home itself,which brought another possible reason for this mass murder.
these killings could have been a result of hate crime.
to dig more into the murder of four innocent people, the police took Gurpreet for an interview as he was the one who had found them dead.
as devastated Gurpreet sat in the interrogation room,he continuously pleaded with the officers to help his family.
the officers asked him to narrate whatever he had witnessed back at the crime scene when he entered his home.
troo shaken to contribute useful information,Gurpreet’s focus shifted to astrange pattern of behavior.
reaching across the table to touch the detective’s hand repeatedly during the interrogation.
he was so traumatized by the series of events that happened back at his home , that he had completely forgotten about the murders.
the investigator once again narrated to him about the mass murder of his own family in an attempt to extract any information he could provided about the killer.
the officer then asked him about any possible reason for someone to kill his family, but he denied everything.
he even claimed that there was not a single reason why someone would want to kill his family.
with Gurpreet’s family targeted and killed, solving the case hinged on understanding the timeline and motive.
but there were mot urgent and chilling questions to be answered first. were the kids intentionally spared,or was their absence an accident?
and were his kids still in danger?
in a case so shocking and unexpected , everyone was under scrutiny.
the sheer horror of the crime had left the community terrified and the cops had to find any leads pissbile to solve this crime.
that included confirming Gurpreet’s alibi despite his overwhelming grief.
bound by an arranged marriage,Gurpreet and shalinderjit kaur upheld the values of their sikh community.
the cops,having gone over Gurpreet’s history and the events leading up to the crime,
couldn’t ignore the weirdest thing they ‘d noticed at the crime scene.
Gurpreet was barefoot.
Gurpreet has discovered not just one but four people of his family were dead.
the interrogation was progressing as smoothly as it coculd for such a sensitive situation.
until detectives made a request.
it would be the most unexpected reaction that would change everything.
as soon as the test was mentioned,he became visibly uneasy and tried to find an excuse to step out.
what was about to unfold next would set off alarm bells in the detective’s minds, hinting that this case was going to be more twisted than they initially suspected
while it wasn’t uncommon for close family members to feel uneasy or offended when questioned about a family murder Gurpreet’s discomfort had already alerted the detectives.
they were now more certain than ever that he was keeping something from them.
while his behavior was undeniably suspicious, it wasn’t enough to prove he was the killer.
the police held him in detention until they secured a search warrant to collect samples from his hands and body.
that’s when yet another jaw-dropping coincidence would come to light that would only complicate the case even more.
Gurpeet was free to leave,but this moment would only be a beginning to a horrifying unravelling of events.
he was out of custody for a couple of months while the police continued to conduct their investigation and wait for the lab results to come back.
while investigators are trained to interpret red flags,they also know grief and shock can mimic guilt.
that’s why , despite Gurpreet’s behavior raising some concerns,the police didn’t view him as a suspect.
this baffling mass murder sent shockwaves across two countries, leaving investigators and the public grappling for answers.
it was a big deal in the cincinatti area,nationally, and it was a big deal in India.
the Ohio police faced mounting pressure not just across the nation but also internationally.
as grieving families relentlessly demanded justice for their lost loved ones.
the sikh community in Ohio was equally determined to see justice served.
Gurpreet singh himselg led multiple marches alongside the sikh community in west chester demanding justice.
his family and friends traqveled from across the country to supoport him, all united by one burning question -who coul be the killer?
however ,despite relentless efforts, two months later,Ohio police still had no leads or suspects.
but just when the officers thought they had hit a dead end,a breakthrough information ws about to be revealed.
first responders drew attention to a part of Gurpreet’s 911 call that had slipped under the radar…..
from that point on ,the case was hit with one shocking revealtion after another.
but even the cops couldn’y have predicted that the breakthrough they needed was right in front of them all allong.
as Gurpreet’s hpne was searched,cops found multiple pictures of an uncknown women.
it was kiranpreet kaur who resided in Indianapolis.
the detectives learnt wthat the very person who was preaching about having no extramarital affairs,just a few months back during the interrogaiton was having an affair.
not only this but he had been even spending money on her.
he was paying for her car ,house , insurance,and he had even purchased a house nearby her house.
however ,the most intriguing thing the officers found was that she had contacted him about half a dozen times at the time of the murders.
the police now started digging much deeper into all the aspects of the case related to him.
they diligently looked for the reason why Gurpreet’s kids were not at home when this incident happened and that’s when they discovered something shocking…
investigators came to learn from those cousins that it was Gurpreet singh, who had the idea for the kids to leave the house and to go out to eat and to spend time with their cousins.
yet the biggest wuestion persisted,what draw him to kill his family?
the answers soon emerged as investigators uncovered his deep -seated personal disputes.
there was a meeting at Gurpreet’s house and Gurpreet was demanding money from the land deal that was happening in India.
from his girlfriend’s expenses to his apartment and truck payments,Gurpreet was dealing with a heavy financial load.
Gurpreet thought he could avoid the truth by refusing as second interview.
but the detectives weren’t giving up.
they dug deeper , and the gunshot residue test results werre about to give them their first breakthrough.
it matched him to the crime.
but the surprises didn’t end there….
incriminating evidence surfaced ,revealing a truth that would make him the prime suspect.
the call was placed at 9: 40 .the car was parked in the parking spot outside of his apartment at 9:09 p.m.
the google records for where the phone was located placed the phone inside the apartment at 9:11 . p.m.
and the 911 call came in at 9:40 p.m .
which told that he was home at the time of the murder.
ot was inescapable that mr singh’s statement about coming home and just finding his family murdered was so thoroughly unsupported disproven by the eletronic evidence.
prosecutors decided they needed to move forward with charges on.
these revelations pushed the investigation to its climax as officers closed in on Gurpreet singh.
on july 2,2019 he was dramatically arrested outside walmart bradford,connecticut.
bringing the prime suspect of this chilling case into custody.
he was also charged with a death penalty specification for the purposeful killing of two or more people.
his arrest sent shockwaves through Gurpreet’s community and family shattering the image of the man they thoguht they knew.
but the case was far from over.
the family members,
like just about anyone, didn’t want to believe that someone that they have known would carry out such a horrific act of violence.
Gurpreet singh was charged with four counts of aggravated murder and firearm specifications.
he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
october 2022
, Gurpreet singh wnet on a trial where the prosecutor argued that he deliberately killed his family.
with the death penalty a real possibility,jury selection became even more critical.
the prosecution pressed that because of his extramarital affair and financial troubles ,he killedhis family members.
their strongest point to prove him guilty was his location at the time of the murder and his call to the police.
the defense on the other hand presented a completely different argument.
they claimed that a group of known criminals who were part of a land mafia in India had attacked his family on that day.
but these claims were never supported by any testimony or evidence.
even the residents of Gurpreet’s neighboring apartment did not hear anything.
to further prove that nothing like that had happened there,prosecutors called the son of one of the men the defense had claimed was involved in the murders.
in Gurpreet’s defense, the defendant cross questioned his cousin about his possible involvement in the murder.
to build their case ,the prosecution brought Gurpreet’s mistress, kiran kaur , to the stand assisted by an interpreter.
the court agreed to her request for anonymity, allowing her to testify without showing her face during the proceedings.
she agreed on the fact that Gurpreet was indeed spending moeny on her.
during this trial ,Gurpreet decided not to take a stand on the recommendation of his defense.
the prosecution presented their closing argument quoting the main agenda for the killings as” money” and ” infidenlity”.
defense presented their closing argument on the grounds that just because Gurpreet lied to the police does not make him the murderer.
this was a capital case, meaning they were trying to kill Gurpreet and as a result,the jury was sequestered.
but on the second jury deliberation ,there was a problem.
they reported that the vote was 11 to 1 in favor of guilt,but they were not hopeful that furthe deliberations would prove fruitful.
the judge had no choice but to declare what is commonly referred to as a hung jury and had to declare a mistrial.
Gurpreet was relieved that there was a hung jury.
but the prosecution was persistent.
despite the decision of mistrial,the prosecution applied for a retrial.
Gurpreet’s second trial began on february 10 ,2023.
and this time he opted for a three judges panelo or a bench trial instead of a jury.
the chef judge of this bench was the same judge who had presided over the first trial.
this time again ,prosecution presented their case like before,accusing Gurpreet the murderer of four people in west chester.
however , this time Gurpreet had a news set of lawyers who presented a new theory in his defense altogether.
this time the defense claimed that Gurpreet did not run from there but had witnessed the murders of his family.
this tactic however did not work for him,as no documented evidence could prove him innocent.
as the judges found him guilty,Gurpreet stood there stoically and did not show any emotions.
during his sentence, the defense tried their level best to save him from a death sentence.
The defense even called his spiritual guru to talk through an interpreter in his defense.
During this trial too,Gurpreet chose not to take the witness stand in his defense.
this time the judges deliberated for two full days and delivered the sentence on on may 10, 2023.
four murderes,two trials and four death sentences.
currently, Gurpreet singh remains on death row in Ohio awaiting his execution.
the victims family espreses how they finally feel a sense of justice as he got what he deserved.
this case highlighted te extreme heights of selfishness,where a person did not think twice before killing his own relatives and the mother of his children.
all because of money and infidelity.
with this , were the reasons presented by prosecutors the actual reasons for killing or was there something else?