Child stuffed in washer after double murder

Ravneet and Dev Sangha proudly pose with Anna a few months after her birth. She was 2 when Deepak Nagpal killed her after he murdered Ravneet while Dev Sangha was in India on business. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

With her tiny boots covered in blood, 2- year-old Anna Sangha tried to run away from the man who had just murdered her mother.

Her mother had been stabbed more than 100 times by Deepak Nagpal in what would later be described as a "determined, frenzied, violent and sustained attack".

Nagpal, who was boarding with the family, then grabbed the toddler in the lounge and took her to the laundry.

There he stabbed the little girl 10 times in the face, neck and throat, then stuffed her body in the washing machine, with one of her booties, her dummy and a cellphone, and turned it on for a wash cycle.

The slightly built 23-year-old Nagpal, a kiwifruit worker, appeared yesterday in the Tauranga District Court where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Ravneet Sangha, 32 and her daughter Anna.

A packed public gallery, which included Mrs Sangha's husband Dev and several of his supporters from the Tauranga Mount Taxis company, heard how Mrs Sangha sent a text message to a close family friend about 11.20am on June 4 complaining about Nagpal.

With her husband Dev in India on business at the time, Mrs Sangha said she had issues with Nagpal over money and that she had asked him to leave the house. Shortly after, Nagpal attacked her.

A post-mortem examination revealed Nagpal used several knives from the kitchen to stab her more than 100 times. Forty-one of the wounds were to her head, neck and face.

Crown prosecutor Rob Ronayne said blows from one of the knives left serrations in Mrs Sangha's skull.

Nagpal inflicted a further 26 knife wounds in her shoulder, back and torso.

Many required significant force, penetrating her aorta, liver, kidney and colon.

She had more than 30 defensive wounds on her hands and arms indicating she had fought for her life.

When police found Mrs Sangha two days later, the laundry was covered in blood. She was lying on her side with her face and head covered.

The court heard how Anna Sangha had her mother's blood on her shoes and ran from the laundry area into a bedroom and then the lounge.

Nagpal picked her up and took her to the laundry where he killed her and stuffed her in the washing machine.

He then had a shower, changed his clothes and took jewellery and bank cards belonging to the Sangha family and went on a spending spree.

Nagpal made several cash withdrawals and purchases around Tauranga including a $1049 cellphone, a $3000 transfer to a relative's bank account in India and a $1100 one-way flight to Delhi.

He later travelled with a friend to Auckland where he made more cash withdrawals.

But later, he admitted the murders to an associate, saying he had done a "big thing".

Nagpal told his friend the Sangha family owed him money and were refusing to pay it back.

Nagpal's friends called police, and he was arrested in a central Auckland house on June 6.

Outside the court, a shattered Dev Sangha was surrounded by his friends, one of whom said his whole life had collapsed.

"Nothing can change my life," Mr Sangha said as he walked away.

Detective Sergeant Peter Blackwell of Tauranga police was emotional when he thanked the Indian community for their support during their inquiry.

Nagpal, who showed little emotion as the grisly summary of facts was being read out, will appear in the High Court at Rotorua for sentencing on February 18.