MORE: Attorney defending West Chester homicide suspect: Police ‘interrogated him’ for hours
After a hearing before a Connecticut judge, Singh was released to the custody of Ohio officials. West Chester police and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office have declined to release details about the transport of Singh.
Ohio officials were on scene to pick Singh up and begin the trip back to Butler County, according to officials in the office of the New Haven clerk of courts.
Defense attorney Charles H. Rittgers said Singh was in Connecticut to attend a wedding with his children when he was arrested.
MORE: Man charged in West Chester homicide to be returned to Ohio
A public defender who represented Singh at the Connecticut hearing said he desired to waive extradition. Singh did not enter a plea, but the public defender indicated Singh told him he was innocent of the charges, according to news reports.
“As far as I am concerned, he is innocent,” Rittgers said.
The high-profile area attorney was retained by Singh two days after the April 28 murders. According to court documents filed in county Area I Court, Rittgers will remain on the case.
“Immediately after discovering his loved ones dead they (police) interrogated him for (hours), releasing him at four or five in the morning,” Rittgers said.
When police wanted a second round of questioning, Singh decided to hire an attorney.
“He was in shock,” Rittgers said. “His whole family was dead.”
Singh, 37, is the man who called 911 at about 9:40 p.m. on the night of April 28 screaming that he had found his family dead, according to police. Rittgers said Singh had last seen his family alive about 6 p.m. when he left to work on his truck.
Singh is accused of the killing his wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, 39; his in-laws, Hakikat Singh Pannag, 59, and Parmjit Kaur, 62; and his aunt by marriage, Amarjit Kaur, 58, at their apartment on Wyndtree Drive. All died of gunshot wounds.
Rittgers said Singh told him there was forced entry to the apartment.
“Who would do this, is what he (Singh) said,” Rittgers said.
Singh told Rittgers that his father-in-law, who worked at a gas station, had a conflict with some people sometime before the shootings and was assaulted.
“(Singh) said it might be a revenge killing,” Rittgers said.
Singh is a truck driver and has been in the country since 2002, according to Rittgers
According to court documents, the victims were all shot in the head with a 9mm handgun. Police have declined to elaborate on the weapon or weapons involved in the shooting. Police searched a pond at the apartment complex on Wyndtree Dive and did recover evidence, but they have also declined to say if it was the murder weapon.
Singh, who has an Indianapolis address listed on the warrants, was arrested in a Connecticut parking lot. He is charged with four counts of aggravated murder, which could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said last month the case would be presented directly to a grand jury. The grand jury would also have to determine if the crimes warrant a death specification. It is unclear if the case has yet been presented at a grand jury.
MORE: Police: West Chester homicides not random, investigators have ‘follow countless leads’
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