Rajinder pictured during sentencing.
Photo: RNZ/Tess Brunton
The family of murdered Dunedin man Gurjit Singh have been emotionally and financially destroyed by his death, a court has heard.
His killer, known only as Rajinder, has been jailed for life and will spend at least 17-and-a-half years behind bars.
The 35-year-old admitted for the first time to a report writer ahead of the sentencing that he killed his former employee.
Singh, 27, was found dead on the lawn of the property in January 2024 after being stabbed more than 40 times.
The 35-year-old killer was found guilty of murder after a High Court jury trial last year.
Singh’s parents told the court they sold everything, including their land, to send their son to New Zealand so he could create a better life for himself and his family.
He made them proud every day, working hard to support and having a “heart that never wishes harm on anyone”, they said. He was the family’s sole provider.
Gurjit Singh’s parents say they are happy their son’s killer will be jailed for life, with a minimum of 17.5 years behind bars.
Photo: RNZ/Tess Brunton
His parents were left with nothing – no land, no savings and no support – after his murder.
Rajinder robbed them of their child, future and peace, they said.
“Our last hope died with him,” they said.
His widow Kamaljeet Kaur said marrying Singh was the brightest moment of her life and he was the heart of their home.
She recalled them holding each other in the airport, unaware it was for the last time.
Kaur said she packed with excitement after receiving her visa and the couple were counting down the days until they would see each other.
His murder turned her world upside down and destroyed every dream, hope and plan they had, Kaur said.
She was left to face the stigma of being a young widow and left her education behind to return to live with her parents.
“Grief has left me emotionally paralysed.”
Prosecutor Richard Smith said Rajinder admitted to a report writer he went to Singh’s house, after earlier purchasing a knife, because he felt poorly treated by Singh after assisting him to create his own business.
Rajinder killed Gurjit Singh in January 2024.
Photo: RNZ/Tess Brunton
He alleged he wanted to clear the air and had presented the knife to Singh expecting the man to kill him, which Smith said should be disregarded as another example of the lies he told police.
During the trial the Crown said Rajinder lied to police multiple times and left DNA evidence at the crime scene but the defence maintained Rajinder had no reason to kill his former employee and there was no animosity between the men.
During sentencing, Justice Rachel Dunningham dismissed Rajinder’s reason for murdering Singh, saying she expected he was motivated by a desire to punish the man who had married the woman Rajinder had previously proposed to.
She described the murder as brutal and chilling with an attempted decapitation.
Rajinder had planned the murder, brutally stabbed Singh at least 46 stab wounds, disposed of evidence and tried to create an alibi, the judge said.
She also ordered him to pay more than $8000 in reparation payments – $3236 parents and $5035 to widow to help cover their costs.
Gurjit Singh’s father Nishan Singh, right, and his friend Hiren Patel who acted as interpreter during the trial.
Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Through a translator outside court, Singh’s father Nishan Singh thanked those who brought his son’s killer to justice.
He said he was happy with the jail term and the compensation the family would receive.
It had been a tough time for them as their son was the sole provider and his mum was unwell, he said.
‘It’s not rocket science’ – the trial
During closing arguments, prosecutor Richard Smith said blood samples from Singh’s home were 500,000 million times more likely to be Rajinder’s than a random person.
“His blood and hair in the scene. His hair in the victim’s hands, his injury and the thumb of the glove left at the scene. Him buying a murder kit. Him saying he didn’t even know where the victim lived yet here he is searching out a route to the victim’s house on the night of the murder,” he said.
“Apply your common sense, it’s not rocket science.”
Defence lawyer Anne Stevens KC said Rajinder has volunteered to be medically examined and DNA only presented a degree of likelihood.
“The probabilities sound high … just about make your eyes water because the numbers are huge but the numbers do not make certainty, however large,” she said.
They also discussed a love triangle involving Singh, his widow Kamaljeet Kaur and Rajinder.
The Crown said Kaur’s rejection of Rajinder’s proposal through a marriage broker in 2022, her marriage a year later to Singh and Singh’s rejection of Rajinder’s plan to marry his sister were motives for murder.
Smith said Singh was murdered shortly before Kaur was due to arrive from India to live with him.
Stevens said Kaur’s family had approached Rajinder’s family twice about marriage and he had been happily married since January 2023.
“The notion Rajinder was upset, let alone distraught enough to murder a person becomes ridiculous and implausible. A fantasy of the Crown’s,” she said.
Justice Dunningham told jurors that Singh had been violently attacked but it was up to them to decide whether Rajinder was involved or not.
‘I can tell that he is no more’
Singh was in a good mood on the night he died.
He was hanging out with his friends at a pizza party in Helensburgh.
His friends said he was looking forward to his wife arriving from India to live with him and had planned to pick her up from Christchurch.
He left at 10.30pm, which was the last time they saw him alive.
The following morning Dhruval Aery found his bloodied and unresponsive body on the lawn after receiving multiple panicked messages from a mutual friend who had been trying to get in contact with him.
“I can tell that he is no more,” Aery told the court.
Footage from the murder scene showed blood stains, a large broken window and signs of a violent struggle inside.
Singh’s widow said her bags were packed and she was preparing for her new life in Dunedin when she discovered her husband had been killed.
Almost 80 police staff were involved in the murder investigation.
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