On 28th January, Thursday a 45-year-old “callous” husband who pretended that his wife had been killed in a burglary has been found guilty of her murder.
Two years ago, 38-year-old Sarbjit Kaur was found that she had been assaulted and "dead for some time," at her house in Wolverhampton according to the West Midlands Police. Previously, Gurpreet Singh was convicted of murder following a retrial at Birmingham Crown Court. He has now been sentenced to life in prison and will serve a minimum of 19 years.The husband himself had called the officers informing them that he had found his 38-year-old wife unconscious in their home. A post-mortem examination however, revealed that she had died of asphyxiation.
The house initially looked as if it had been burgled. The jury was told Singh was showing signs of shock and horror at what had taken place. His wife's face and body were sprinkled with a form of chilli powder, which was used to incapacitate her or give the impression she had been attacked. The West Midlands force said Singh allowed his children to enter their house and find Sarbjit, their stepmother dead on the floor.
This is not the first instance of reported murder for Gurpreet. His first wife, Amandeep Kaur had also reportedly died in India four years before the murder, with authorities concluding she suffered a brain haemorrhage. He had faced charges of attempting to arrange her death, but was later acquitted.
Singh reportedly "had taken the time" to remove the CCTV from the property, the officer said. He had previously insisted that the CCTV was removed because it wasn't working properly and he'd thrown away the DVR box that recorded the footage.
Supt Chris Mallett, of West Midlands Police, said, "While the motivation of Sarbjit's murder is unclear, Singh is clearly a callous and calculating man with complete disregard for human life. He's shown no remorse for his actions and continued to deny his involvement, despite the weight of evidence against him. It wasn't just the CCTV it was the fact that he had arranged for an unknown, still unknown, female third party to attend the address that day and assist him in committing the murder of Sarbjit."
Jurors were told the unidentified woman went into the home of Singh just minutes after he entered the Wolverhampton property. The police are still keen to hear who his accomplice is and are pleading anyone with any information to do the right thing and report what they know.
