UCLA shootout: Mainak Sarkar broke into wife's home, took bus to varsity

05 June,2016 10:35 AM IST |   |  Agencies

He made the 3,000-km-long journey and killed his former professor before turning the gun on himself

Mainak Sarkar


Los Angels: Mainak Sarkar, 38, the Indian-American techie behind the UCLA murder-suicide, seems to have forced his entry into his estranged wife's home before shooting her dead and boarded a bus to the varsity to kill his former professor.


Mainak Sarkar. Pic/AP

The IIT-Kharagpur alumni intruded into the Brooklyn Park residence in the nearby town, where Ashley Hasti, who he married in 2011, lived. Officers also found Sarkar's car, a grey 2003 Nissan Sentra with Minnesota licence plate 720KTW, parked in the neighbourhood and a broken window they believe he used to enter Hasti's home.

Police also found a handgun and cans of gasoline in the trunk. There was enough fuel, which meant Sarkar did not have to stop on his trip from Minnesota, where he killed 31-year-old Hasti a few days ago. Police on Saturday confirmed Hasti was still legally Sarkar's wife when she died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Sarkar finished his over 3,000-km-long journey by bus to the University of California, where he killed 39-year-old professor William Klug, who he had accused of stealing his computer code.

Police have also suggested mental issues with Sarkar, who later turned the gun on himself. The motive for the twin murder, and suicide is not very clear. "This was simply him," Captain William Hayes of the Los Angels Police Department said.

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