CA CA - Randhir Kaur, 37, Albany, 8 March 2015

An Indian dental student at the University of California San Francisco, Randhir Kaur, was found dead and lying in a pool of blood earlier this week at her Albany apartment.

Randhir Kaur’s cousin found her inside her second-floor apartment at about 4 p.m. Monday, neighbors said. The Alameda County coroner conducted an autopsy Wednesday, and police report she died of a single gunshot wound...

Neighbors told SFGate that they had no idea why anyone would want to harm Kaur. They said they rarely saw her and assumed it was because of her rigorous academic schedule.

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One neighbor who declined to be identified said she heard one gunshot Sunday around 9 p.m., a pause, and then another gunshot. At the time, she thought they were sounds of firecrackers...

Kaur was eight months into a two-year international dentist program at UCSF, which admits 24 foreign-trained dentists each year who study to become doctors of dental surgery.

“Happening to an Indian girl, they’re already facing so many problems in India,” said Sharma. “We come to the U.S. because it’s a safe place..."

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A resident of the building, who asked to be identified only as Taylor, said he told police that he heard what he described as a “shouting match” on Sunday night. But he said he couldn’t tell if the noise came from the victim’s apartment.

Anwar Hussain, 57, who lives one building over, said he was at home on Monday afternoon when he heard a man crying on the street. He initially misheard the sound as laughter.

“And then I heard him cry again, and he was calling for help,” Hussain said.

“He said, 'My cousin, I just walked into her apartment and there’s a pool of blood and I think somebody has taken her life.’”
Hussain said Kaur lived by herself. One day, Hussain saw her speaking to a man and assumed that he was her boyfriend. When the man left, he told her, “Bye, doc.”

“We figured she must be just like an intern, a student. That’s why she’s so busy and we don’t see her, ever,” Hussain said.

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Police said Kaur had attended afternoon prayers on March 8 at the El Sobrante Gurdwara Shaib, a Sikh temple. Kaur had apparently planned to spend the evening studying...

Police believe Kaur was killed sometime after she arrived home the evening of March 8. She was shot once in the head inside her apartment...

On Monday, police found personal items belonging to Kaur inside a trash receptacle in the 5200 block of Panama Avenue in Richmond, roughly two miles away from Kaur’s apartment.

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There were no signs of forced entry and her car, a brown 1999 Toyota, was found parked and locked at her home, police said.

Investigators revealed that personal items belonging to Kaur were taken from her home and found inside a trash can on the 5200 block of Panama Street in Richmond, about 2 miles away. Police did not say what those items were or confirm whether anything belonging to her was kept and used by anyone, such as credit cards.

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OkieGranny said:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...lbany-dental-student-killed-in-her-apartment/

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/UCSF-student-fatally-shot-in-Albany-hours-after-6135524.php

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Police did not say what those items were, but a resident told The Chronicle that a friend of hers found what turned out to be Kaur’s black Coach purse — and a bag of bloody clothing — in her trash can about 11:50 a.m. last Monday, less than two hours before her garbage would have been picked up during her regular pickup.

The resident, who didn’t want her name used, said Kaur’s school of dentistry identification, some credit cards, wallet, camera and empty cell-phone case were in the bag. There was also a second purse with cosmetics and a bag containing rolled-up clothing with blood on it, she said.

She said she called Albany police to report the discovery, but was told she should call Richmond police because she was a resident of that city. At the time, Kaur’s body hadn’t yet been found. It wasn’t until about an hour after the grisly discovery that Albany police retrieved the items, she said.

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In the garbage outside her Richmond home two miles away, Duke found Kaur's designer handbag with her wallet, credit cards, and identification inside. There was no money, but the bag contained a Bank of America envelope that was empty.

"Right below the purse was a bag full of bloody clothes," explained Duke. She realized this might be more than a randomly discarded stolen purse and contacted Albany Police.

The Albany Police Department told her to call Richmond instead, since she lives in that East Bay city and felt this was a low priority property crime.

"I told both police departments her name, and about the bloody clothing, but they did not connect the dots," observed Duke. "If they had gone to her home when I had reported it, it would have been better."

Instead, it was 4 p.m. Monday when Kaur's body was found after her cousin went to check on her because of her absence from classes and appointments.

At that point, the retrieved purse and clothing became critical. Investigators swarmed Duke's home, questioning her and searching her property.

Albany Police said Kaur was fully clothed when her body was found, raising the possibility the bloody garments belong to her killer, or someone connected to the crime.

...Bettencourt disclosed there was no sign of a break-in at Kaur's second-floor unit. Her apartment was not ransacked, and her brown Toyota was left in the parking lot.

...Elizabeth Duke believes whoever dumped the evidence knew that she is disabled and uses a wheelchair, so was unlikely to get to the curb to discover it.

If not for a visiting friend, who offered to take some trash out, no one would have discovered the purse and clothing, and since it was pick-up day, the items would have been gone an hour later.

"I think it's someone who knew," speculated Duke. "They knew about my situation and they knew about the garbage situation."

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Randhir Paul's murder remains unsolved, but her family reached out to KTVU to talk about their search for answers and justice. Relatives say they are in frequent contact with the police, but they' re frustrated that one year later, no one has been arrested for the crime.

"She was an awesome person. She didn't deserve to be gone like that," said Roop Soorma, Paul's cousin.

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She suffered a single gunshot wound to her left eye. Relatives say Paul also had bruises on her arm.

They tell me there was a bullet casing near her and blood splatter on the walls.

"Somebody came into her apartment, shot her, left her face down. And unfortunately, me seeing her face down. We don't have an answer still," said Singh.

"The way she was found was very creepy. She wore a bracelet like mine, it was bent like someone had pulled it so there was definitely a confrontation," said Roop.

Two miles away in Richmond, a woman found Paul's purse and some bloody clothes in her garbage can.
There is surveillance video from the Sikh Temple in El Sobrante she visited the day before. It's one of the last places Paul was seen alive.

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An ex-convict, already facing trial for a series of East Bay sexual assaults, has been charged with special circumstance murder in the March 2015 fatal shooting of a 37-year-old dental student found slain inside her apartment, authorities said Tuesday.

Keith K. Asberry, 33, is charged in the March 8, 2015, death of Randhir Kaur, 37, a student at the UCSF School of Dentistry, who was found dead inside her apartment in the 1000 block of Kains Avenue, by a relative concerned about not having heard from her.

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