Kidnapping goes wrong as man kills baby, granny
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.
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