HAMILTON, Ohio — On the second day of the capital murder trial against a man accused of killing four people, including his wife, the jury heard from the first people to respond to the grisly scene.
Thursday, prosecutors put a West Chester police sergeant and medical examiner on the stand during the first day of testimony in the Gurpreet Singh murder trial.
Singh, 40, could get the death penalty if convicted of 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. West Chester police found all four shot in the head inside an apartment on Wyndtree Drive in West Chester on April 28, 2019.
Sgt. Michael Bruce testified first. He was one of the first four officers that responded to a 911 call Singh made regarding the deaths of his family. Prosecutors showed jurors a portion of Sgt. Bruce's bodycam footage recorded that night. It showed two interactions with Singh. Sgt. Bruce told jurors Singh appeared hysterical.
"Did the defendant ever tell you, if I can get this right, that he was home right before the murders took place," prosecutor Josh Muennich asked Sgt. Bruce.
"No," Sgt. Bruce replied.
"(Did he tell you) that three unknown individuals came in the house while he was home," Muennich asked Sgt. Bruce on the stand.
"No," Sgt. Bruce responded.
Dr. Karen Looman, chief deputy coroner for the Hamilton County Coroner's Office, performed autopsies on all four victims. She took the stand after Sgt. Bruce. Dr. Looman explained her autopsy findings, reports and diagrams to jurors. Some photos were so graphic that prosecutors and Judge Greg Howard allowed the victims' family members to leave the courtroom during that portion of the trial.
Authorities found Parmjit Kaur shot five times in the head. The shooter fired two rounds in the back of Amarjit's skull in the family room. In the kitchen, Shalindeerjit Kaur suffered three shots, two fired in what prosecutors called a "double tap" pattern in her head. Hakiakat died in bed wrapped in a comforter and bed sheets. The shooter fired one round through Hakiakat's forehead and five more in his face, Dr. Looman said.
Whatever testimony follows during coming days, Ajaib Singh, who lost his sisters Parmjit and Amarjit, wants one thing.
"We pray to God to give us justice," he said. "(Gurpreet Singh) deserves (the) death penalty, nothing less than that."
