- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Pramod Thomas
A court in England on Wednesday(2) heard that a businessman in Wolverhampton allegedly incapacitated his wife with chilli powder before killing her and then staged a ‘fake burglary’ to cover up the murder.
Gurpreet Singh, 45, allegedly killed his second wife, Sarbjit Kaur, 38, on February 16, 2018 with the assistance of an ‘unidentified female accomplice’. He pleaded not-guilty.
Birmingham Crown Court heard Singh, a concrete company boss, was found with scratches on his hands while the couple’s home was upturned in an unusual way after her death.
Kaur, 38, was found dead inside her home in Wolverhampton with chilli powder on her face and body, which prosecutors claim was used to incapacitate her, reported The Daily Mail.
According to the report, Kaur was killed within a 53-minute period between her husband returning from dropping his children at school at 8.10am and leaving for work at 9.03am.
Jurors heard how Singh told police he found his wife dead in her workroom after returning home that afternoon with his children.
David Mason QC, prosecuting, said that Singh called officers, upon arriving home, to claim his home had been ‘ransacked’.
As majority of items of high value were left in the home, it was clear that the burglary claim was ‘fake’, Mason added.
The prosecution added that the scratches on Singh’s hands were caused by his wife, as she tried to pull his hands from her neck, while he strangled her.
According to the Daily Mail report, Singh was initially treated as a witness but later became a suspect when he lied to police that he was alone with Kaur after dropping off his children.
But CCTV footage captured a woman in a hooded parka jacket being let into the property at 8.15am, carrying a Sports Direct bag. This person did not leave the house until 9.07am – four minutes after Singh drove off to work – carrying the same bag.
The other suspect was later captured on CCTV walking up Rookery Lane and Goldthorn Hill but the identity remains unknown, reports said.
The prosecution also ruled out the involvement of anybody else in the crime other than Singh and an unknown assistant.
