A Dunedin man who\u00a0viciously\u00a0stabbed his\u00a0ex-employee to death –\u00a0attempting\u00a0to decapitate the victim on his own front lawn\u00a0–\u00a0will be locked up for at least\u00a017 and a-half\u00a0years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rajinder, 35, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin this morning\u00a0where he was jailed for life\u00a0after being found guilty of the murder of 27-year-old Gurjit Singh following a jury trial at the end of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside court, Mr Singh’s father Nishan said he felt justice had been served and paid tribute to police, prosecutors and those who had supported the family during their ordeal.<\/p>\n
Justice\u00a0Rachel\u00a0Dunningham\u00a0said Rajinder\u00a0lied\u00a0to police\u00a0about his actions and motives and\u00a0had\u00a0continued to do so\u00a0since\u00a0the trial,\u00a0which she said exposed\u00a0his \u201carrogance\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0murder, she said, clearly featured\u00a0a high level\u00a0of brutality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s parents said the weight of losing their only son\u00a0in such a callous attack\u00a0was devastating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had sold everything to enable\u00a0Mr\u00a0Singh to travel to New Zealand in 2016, study and\u00a0establish\u00a0a business for himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[Rajinder] has not just taken one\u00a0life,\u00a0he\u2019s destroyed an entire family,\u201d they wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have nothing; no land, no savings, no support, nothing to fall back on in our old age. Our last hope died with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple described the gruelling trial,\u00a0which they travelled from India to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo sit in the courtroom and hear, piece by piece, details about how our son\u2019s life was taken\u00a0shattered\u00a0something inside us forever,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven after hearing everything, nothing made sense… The emptiness consumes us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s partner Kamaljeet Kaur recalled the moment she was told of her new husband\u2019s death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI screamed, I cried uncontrollably and I felt something inside me break in a way that can never be repaired,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0court at trial heard the defendant\u00a0had worked for Downer as a\u00a0fibre-optic cable installer, employing\u00a0Mr\u00a0Singh for about a year before the victim started his own business in September 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though working in the same field, the pair had little contact following the\u00a0split\u00a0and witnesses said there appeared no animosity between them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But late on January 28 in 2024, Rajinder went to the\u00a0Liberton\u00a0home with a pair of gloves and a hunting knife he was caught on CCTV buying just hours earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The evidence, painted in blood, showed\u00a0an initial\u00a0attack inside the victim\u2019s home which spilled outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was spatter over\u00a0walls,\u00a0furniture,\u00a0the\u00a0stairs leading to the front\u00a0door\u00a0and a handrail beside it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s body was found on his front lawn partially decapitated; at least 46 stab wounds\u00a0were\u00a0later\u00a0identified\u00a0by a pathologist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the melee, Rajinder suffered a deep cut to his own hand and forensic scientists found traces of his blood at scene, leading to the road where he\u00a0had\u00a0made his escape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s blood was\u00a0discovered\u00a0in\u00a0the killer’s car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most damning, though, were hairs found in the victim\u2019s hand which – to a near scientific certainty – matched Rajinder\u2019s DNA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the days following, the defendant told police he had been taking his wife Gurpreet Kaur on a midnight driving lesson at the time of the murder and denied he had ever been to\u00a0Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in a\u00a0recent interview with Probation, Rajinder finally admitted going to the\u00a0Liberton\u00a0address.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trial heard much conjecture about his\u00a0possible motives\u00a0for\u00a0murder, but Justice\u00a0Dunningham\u00a0said\u00a0the\u00a0likely\u00a0catalyst\u00a0was\u00a0the\u00a0impending arrival in New Zealand of\u00a0Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s new wife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In July 2023,\u00a0the victim\u00a0had married Kamaljeet Kaur in\u00a0India\u00a0and\u00a0they were\u00a0just days away from starting\u00a0their new life\u00a0together\u00a0in Dunedin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The court heard\u00a0Ms\u00a0Kaur\u00a0had previously turned down an arranged marriage to Rajinder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the defendant told Probation the reason he had gone to confront Mr Singh was because he believed\u00a0the\u00a0younger man had been ignoring him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He described driving to the house\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cclear the air… perhaps have a cup of tea\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rajinder, though,\u00a0admitted taking a knife with him\u00a0and\u00a0claimed\u00a0he held it out in an offer to the victim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith called the garbled version of events \u201ctotally\u00a0contradictory\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Honour should disregard everything the defendant has said about this.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0just another example of the lies, the many lies, he\u00a0told the police who investigated the matter,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Justice\u00a0Dunningham\u00a0agreed and described Rajinder\u2019s account as \u201cquite implausible\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s yet another lie from you to deflect responsibility for your crime,\u201d she\u00a0told Rajinder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Counsel Anne Stevens, KC, stressed her client had been in New Zealand\u00a0for\u00a0more than a decade, providing for his family,\u00a0and had no\u00a0previous\u00a0convictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She also understood he was\u00a0the only Sikh at the Otago Corrections Facility, which meant his incarceration\u00a0would result in a degree of \u201ccultural disconnect\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the judge said isolation was a common issue for prisoners who had committed serious crimes.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Singh\u2019s parents described their son\u00a0as their \u201cpride and joy\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the kind of young man who noticed when someone was struggling and stepped forward before they even asked,\u201d\u00a0they\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe deserved time, he deserved happiness, he deserved life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n