Witness claims quadruple murder suspect hurt father-in-law before 2019 deaths

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (WXIX) - The quadruple murder trial continues for the man accused of killing four of his own family members in April of 2019.

Gurpreet Singh is on trial for allegedly murdering his wife, her parents and her aunt.

Tuesday morning witness testimony continued to outline the timetable and what neighbors saw and heard on the night of the murders.

Amrik Tiwana, who knew Gurpreet’s father-in-law, took the stand to testify. A large portion of that testimony was used to outline the relationship between Hakiakat Singh Pannag and Gurpreet Singh ahead of the murders.

Tiwana discussed how there was divide in the family over the sale of a property in India worth as much as $400,000.

That divide allegedly led to members of their religious community coming together to try to help resolve the differences between Singh and his father-in-law.

Tiwana said in a meeting with Hakiakat, the now deceased man had injuries and was visibly shaking.

“He got something, like, he pushing him down. You know what I mean like, like, beating him with something like stick or something,” Tiwana said.

The prosecutor asked whether Hakiakat had said who beat him. Tiwana replied, “Gurpreet.”

The defense argued that Hakiakat had a drinking problem and that his shaking was possibly due to alcohol withdrawal. They also argued his injuries were possibly from falling down the stairs while intoxicated, an incident they said landed him in the hospital.

“Are you aware,” the defense attorney asked Tiwana, “that his neighbors called 911, and Parmjit picked him up from the hospital after falling down the stairs drunk?”

Tiwana acknowledged that Parmjit had picked Hakiakat up from the hospital.

“So sitting here today, and back on February 9th, you have no idea where those bruises came from, right?” Posed the defense attorney.

“I know they came from,” replied Tiwana.

“How do you know?” The defense attorney asked.

“Because I’m not an idiot,” Tiwana replied. “I know what happened. He’s [Hakiakat’s] not lying either.”

Testimony continues Wednesday afternoon. If the prosecution’s initial estimates were correct, they’ll still be calling witnesses into the middle of next week.

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