Singh faces four counts of aggravated murder from the April 28 incident. With specifications of using a firearm and killing two or more persons, Singh faces the death penalty if convicted.
The indictment was filed this morning, and Singh’s arraignment was scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m.
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Singh’s attorney, Charles H. Rittgers, was in Hamilton this morning anticipating his client would be arraigned on the initial charges of aggravated murder signed a month ago by West Chester Police. But with the indictment filed this morning charging Singh with four counts of aggravated murder with the possibility of the death penalty if convicted, that arraignment in a lower court was in limbo.
“(We) want him arraigned today,” Rittgers told the Journal-News Friday morning, adding he did not have a problem it that appearance was before the Butler County Common Pleas Judge assigned to the case, which is Judge Greg Howard.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said he wants the arraignment to take place before a common pleas judge because this case includes a death specification.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
INITIAL REPORT
The man accused of killing four family members in a West Chester Twp. apartment in April is in the Butler County Jail.
Gurpreet Singh was booked into the jail at 12:50 a.m. Friday on four counts of aggravated murder, according to jail records. No court date is listed for Singh.
Singh was arrested in Connecticut on July 2, the day West Chester police issued four warrants for his arrest on aggravated murder charges. He has remained housed in jail there for a month after waiving further extradition proceedings.
After a hearing before a Connecticut judge, Singh was released to the custody of Ohio officials. West Chester police and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office have declined to release details about the transport of Singh.Ohio officials were on scene to pick Singh up and begin the trip back to Butler County, according to officials in the office of the New Haven clerk of courts.
Singh, 37, is the man who called 911 at about 9:40 p.m. on the night of April 28 screaming that he had found his family dead, according to police. Rittgers said Singh had last seen his family alive about 6 p.m. when he left to work on his truck.
Singh is accused of the killing his wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, 39; his in-laws, Hakikat Singh Pannag, 59, and Parmjit Kaur, 62; and his aunt by marriage, Amarjit Kaur, 58, at their apartment on Wyndtree Drive. All died of gunshot wounds.
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