Singh is charged with four counts of aggravated murder for allegedly shooting and killing his wife Shalinderjit Kaur, 39; his in-laws, Hakikat Singh Pannag, 59, and Parmjit Kaur, 62; and his aunt-in-law, Amarjit Kaur, 58, at there residence on Wyndtree Drive.
The 40-year-old defendant’s trial began Oct. 3 and is expected to last three weeks.
Prosecutors says Singh murdered his family by shooting them all in the head after a longtime affair and a strained relationship with his in-laws over land owned in India.
The defense says Singh is innocent and the killings were part of a professional hit due to Pannag’s financial woes and a dubious land contract deal in India with the “land mafia.” They say three masked men broke into the apartment with baseball bats and Singh ran for his life. When he returned, everyone was dead.
West Chester Police Sgt. Travis Oakes talked with Singh on the night of the murders as he was seated in the back of a cruiser.
Singh struggling to talk, appeared to by hysterical and hyperventilating. He was wearing a red shirt and had a full beard. Singh asked about his three children.
Oakes said Singh did not tell him masked men had broken into his apartment with baseball bats.
During the sergeant’s testimony, prosecutors displayed photos of Maninder Singh-Sekhon, who Singh refers to as a brother, and three children at a UDF near the time the murders. He is dressed in a long-sleeve dark shirt.
The defense said a witness saw a man dressed in a dark shirt with long sleeves running in the apartment complex at the time the killing happened. And the defense says Singh-Sekhon could be connect to the people who wanted to harm Singh father-in-law.
Oakes testified the other men the defense point to as alternate suspects were either out of state or the country on April 28, 2019.
Prosecutors also showed the jury a loaded Berretta handgun found in the master bedroom closet that was left behind while Singh allegedly fled for his life from intruders.
Former West Chester Police Officer Adam Gecewich was overcome with emotion when he testified seeing the four victims when looking from the breezeway into the open door of the Wyndtree Drive apartment.
Gecewich said just from his vantage point he could see the victims had suffered gunshot wounds and he could see casings littering the floor.
Singh is seen on Gecewich’s body camera video sitting in the breezeway crying. The former officer said Singh had blood on his hands and arms.
Gecewich said Singh continued to ask about his children. He learn they were with his sister and Singh-Sekhon. Gecewich went to that residence and found the three children.
Gecewich said Singh did not indicate he had a problem with his children being in the care of Singh-Sekhon.
Also testifying Monday was West Chester Det. Kevin Burger who was present when a search warrant was served at the Wyndtree Drive apartment, where he located $930 cash on a prayer table. The murder weapon was found during the search of a pond behind the complex with the serial numbers obscured.
On Friday, West Chester Police Sgt. Eric Couch spent hours on the stand testifying about the three days he spent collecting evidence at the crime scene.
Graphic photos of the apartment depicting pools of blood and bodies of the four victims were shown to the jury. Evidence placards littered the floor, marking bullet casings and other evidence.
The apartment looked lived in with typical household items and toys. Parmjit Kaur and Amarjit Kaur lay bloody a few feet from each other in the family room. Singh’s wife, Shalinderjit, was near the kitchen area in a pool of blood. A tea container and a boiled over pot was on the stove top.
When officers arrived after Singh called 911, the fire alarm was sounding loudly because of the smoking food.
Partially under Shalinderjit’s body was a cell phone and a pair of boots splattered with human matter, near her head. Both were seized as evidence, Couch said.
Hakikat Singh Pannag was wrapped in a blanket asleep on his side in his bed, His face and head distorted by bullets. On the bedside table was a cell phone. Couch said the man’s morning alarm sounded at 6 a.m. while he was processing the scene.
Casings were found near and around all the victims. Couch identified 13, opening up each evidence bag and showing the jury. The sergeant also walked in front of the jury box displaying the boots taken from the scene.
Prosecutors also showed the jury bloody footprints found in the breezeway leading to the apartment building and shoe prints inside the apartment. Two holes were found fired from inside the apartment and slugs were found lodged in the siding of the apartment across the breezeway.
In testimony Thursday, West Chester Police Sgt. Michael Bruce said he and two other officers responded to the apartment complex about 9:50 p.m., parked their cars and ran to the address. Police body camera video shows Singh, bloody, in a red shirt, standing in the breezeway.
“Down on the ground,” an officer says. Singh is crying and saying he “doesn’t know what happened.”
Guns drawn, Bruce and others go through the apartment, where glimpses of the bloody victims are visible.
“Significant amount of blood,” Bruce says in the video as he opens the door. Then he starts finding multiple victims, saying, “gunshot wounds to the head.”
Bruce said he did not see any vehicles or people leaving the apartment complex as he responded, and Singh never told them people had broken into the residence and he ran from the apartment after seeing one of the masked men with a baseball bat.
The defense said during opening statements Wednesday that others are responsible for the slayings tied to a land feud in India and financial problems of Hakikat Singh Pannag. Singh saw the three men break in, fled, and when he returned, the family was dead, the defense told the jury.
During cross examination, Bruce said he did not observe comings and goings from all the entrances to the apartment complex.
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