Kidnapping goes wrong as man kills baby, granny
Source: Agencies |
October 29, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A family friend hoped to hold a baby girl hostage to get US$50,000 from her software-engineer parents who had immigrated to the United States from India but instead killed her and her grandmother in a botched kidnapping, according to police in a Philadelphia suburb.
Raghunandan "Raghu" Yandamuri, 26, knew the infant's parents both had good jobs, and he crafted a ransom note threatening to kill their daughter if they did not leave the money at a local supermarket, police said in an affidavit filed on Friday. "It's up to you to decide, do you want your one-year-old or five months of your income?" the lengthy, typed note said.
The plot unraveled when he dropped the baby as he juggled her and a kitchen knife and struggled with her paternal grandmother, who was watching 10-month-old Saanvi Venna last Monday during a six-month visit, the affidavit said.
The grandmother, 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, was fatally stabbed and suffered defensive wounds. The suspect told police he put a handkerchief in the baby's mouth to quiet her, then wrapped a towel around her head and put her in a suitcase when he left the sixth-floor apartment.
The ransom note called the parents by their family nicknames, leading police to focus on friends and acquaintances, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said. The parents were never again contacted for money as the search for the missing infant stretched through the week.
Authorities found the infant in a bloody white dress beneath a bench near the sauna of the fitness center at the sprawling apartment complex where Yandamuri and the victims lived.
Yandamuri was being held without bail on two counts of murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges pending a preliminary hearing set for next week.
The baby's father, Venkata Konda Siva Venna, and mother, Chenchu Latha Punuru, moved to the US in February 2007.
Raghunandan "Raghu" Yandamuri, 26, knew the infant's parents both had good jobs, and he crafted a ransom note threatening to kill their daughter if they did not leave the money at a local supermarket, police said in an affidavit filed on Friday. "It's up to you to decide, do you want your one-year-old or five months of your income?" the lengthy, typed note said.
The plot unraveled when he dropped the baby as he juggled her and a kitchen knife and struggled with her paternal grandmother, who was watching 10-month-old Saanvi Venna last Monday during a six-month visit, the affidavit said.
The grandmother, 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, was fatally stabbed and suffered defensive wounds. The suspect told police he put a handkerchief in the baby's mouth to quiet her, then wrapped a towel around her head and put her in a suitcase when he left the sixth-floor apartment.
The ransom note called the parents by their family nicknames, leading police to focus on friends and acquaintances, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said. The parents were never again contacted for money as the search for the missing infant stretched through the week.
Authorities found the infant in a bloody white dress beneath a bench near the sauna of the fitness center at the sprawling apartment complex where Yandamuri and the victims lived.
Yandamuri was being held without bail on two counts of murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges pending a preliminary hearing set for next week.
The baby's father, Venkata Konda Siva Venna, and mother, Chenchu Latha Punuru, moved to the US in February 2007.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
