Indian descent roommate’s convicted murderer, the 22-year-old South Korean student from the prestigious Purdue University in the US, has been ruled incompetent to stand in the trial by a judge.
Varun Manish Chheda was brutally attacked on October 5 by Ji Min Sha, a cybersecurity major from Seoul, who repeatedly stabbed him in the head and neck before he reported his 20-year-old roommate dead to the police.
At the western border of the campus, in McCutcheon Hall, the body of Indianapolis native Chheda was discovered.
The two resided in McCutcheon Hall on the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, which is located about 104 kilometres (km) northwest of Indianapolis.
ABC 7 news channel stated last Thursday that Tippecanoe Circuit Judge Sean Persin authorised two doctors to look at Ji Min Sha until he is determined to be competent to comprehend the charges against him and participate in his defence.
Persin made his decision after reviewing a report written by Dr. Sean Samuels, a psychologist retained by the defence who spoke with Sha for five hours soon after the murder.
According to court documents, Sha allegedly admitted to police that he thinks “he is extensively involved in international espionage and is a former CIA operative,” according to WLFI-TV.
According to the outlet, police discovered Chheda sitting in a chair and Sha covered in what seemed to be blood. A pool of blood, a folding knife, and what seemed to be blood splatters on the wall and floor were also seen. Sha allegedly confessed to owning the knife and using it to murder his roommate.
According to Chheda’s companions, they were playing a game together when they unexpectedly heard the victim screaming. Chheda had “multiple sharp-force traumatic injuries,” according to an autopsy. According to Indiana police, the murder was “unprovoked and senseless.”
Chheda graduated from Park Tudor in 2020, according to the television network Fox59. According to the television station, one of Chheda’s closest friends who remember him saying that he will be remembered as a kind, wise, and passionate individual.
According to a school post on Facebook, Chheda was a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program and a contender for the US Presidential Scholars Program in 2020.
Ji Min Sha, popularly known as Jimmy, is a junior foreign student from Korea majoring in cybersecurity.
After Sha’s lawyer Kyle Cray asked the court to appoint psychiatrists, psychologists, or physicians to determine if Sha is competent to stand trial and whether he was sane at the time of the alleged murder, the court granted Cray’s request.
The judge granted the request and tasked two medical experts with determining Sha’s mental condition at the time of the suspected murder. A folding knife that police seized on the floor close to the chair where the victim’s body was located, according to the prosecution, was used by Sha to stab Chheda numerous times in the head and neck.
Ben Jaffe, a criminal defence attorney, informed WRTV, “If they are declared to be incompetent, there are going to be multiple checks and balances on that to make sure this person is safe to be in the community. And that may or may not ever happen.”
“It’s a touchy subject. People should not have the idea that people get away with this because they claim insanity or something. It is not that easy,” he added.
Varun Manish Chheda, who was killed, was reportedly attacked without cause, according to officials, and Sha is currently being held without bond. Sha is being held at the Tippecanoe County Jail and is charged with one count of murder for a stabbing. Sha could face a prison sentence of 45 to 65 years if found guilty of murder.
