Baby Saanvi killed by Raghunandan Yandamuri - body found dead in sauna basement

October 27, 2012 00:37
Baby-Saanvi

UPPER MERION, Pa. - Authorities say 10-month-old Saanvi Venna has been found dead, and a suspect has been charged with murdering both the baby and her grandmother.

 The suspect, Ragunandan Yandamuri, faces charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, theft and abuse of a corpse, prosecutors said.

"We believe the initial effort was to kidnap the child, not to commit the killings, but that changed very quickly," Ferman said.

She said the baby was suffocated with a handkerchief in her mouth and was stuffed in a suitcase.

The baby's body was found in a sauna in a gym in the basement of the apartment complex where the baby's family and the suspect both lived, Ferman said.  The baby's body was found at 4:30 a.m. hidden inside of a sauna in a bathroom in the basement gymnasium of one of the other buildings at the Marquis Apartments, authorities said.

The 10-month-old was abducted when her grandmother was slain earlier this week. Officials say Satyavathi Venna, who was visiting from India, was stabbed to death Monday while babysitting her 10-month-old granddaughter in the family's residence at the Marquis Apartments in King of Prussia.

Suspect Raghu said grandmother attacked him as he attempted to take baby

According to an affadavit filed by Upper Merion Detective Andrew Rathfon and Montgomery County Detective Paul Bradbury, the use of the Indian diminutives "shiva" and "lata" in the ransom note helped lead authorities to believe that the note's author was someone familiar with the family.

Authorities first interviewed Yandamuri on Thursday, the day after he attended a vigil held in support of the family. He initially denied being involved in the killings but later admitted to them, the affadavit states.

RAghu-YandamuriAccording to detectives, Yandamuri said he went to work on Monday and used his work computer to prepare the ransom note. He reportedly told the detectives that he arrived at the apartment at about 11:00 a.m. Monday, armed with a four-inch kitchen knife.

Satyavathi Venna answered the door. She initially retreated when threatened with the knife, but then "came at" Yandamuri after he picked up the baby. During the ensuing struggle, Saanvi fell from his grip and he fell on top of her. It was then that the elder Venna was wounded in the throat, Yandamuri allegedly told detectives.

When Saanvi began crying, Yandamuri allegedly said, he "stuffed" a handkerchief in her mouth to make her stop, and wrapped a bath towel around her head to hold the handkerchief in place. He then described placing her inside a suitcase he found inside the apartment before disposing of her body in the steam room of the men's bathroom inside the apartment complex's gymnasium.

 

Wanted wife to receive reward for "turning him in"

A $30,000 reward for information leading to Saanvi Venna's safe return was posted on Wednesday. It was later increased to $50,000. According to the detectives' affadavit, Yandamuri allegedly asked the detectives to tell the media that his wife "turned him in" so that she could receive the reward money.

 

Over the past week, the 10-month-old's family had been begging for the safe return of their baby and for anyone with information to come forward.

Ferman told reporters Friday, "What we have learned during the course of this investigation, and we only learned much of this over the past 24 hours, is that this individual had planned to kidnap Saanvi Venna, and he was going to hold her for ransom."

"Over the past few days, we had been very hopeful that Saanvi was still alive, and we were taking every step we could, making every effort we could to try to locate her," Ferman said. "Tragically, we've learned over the course of the last few hours that that was not the case. We learned from the defendant that he went to the home, he made an effort to kidnap the child, during the course of that event he took the life of her grandmother. He then left the apartment building with the child suffocated with a handkerchief and stuffed into a suitcase."

The D.A. said10 identical copies of a ransom note asking for $50,000 were found at the murder scene.

Ferman described the suspect, Ragunandan Yandamuri, as "a friend of the family; … someone known to them; someone you will see from the court documents … that placed himself here to support the family during the search for their child; someone who actually printed fliers and handed them out; someone who offered support, came to this police station during the course of the search – actually attended the vigil in memory of Mrs. Venna and looking for Saanvi."

The announcement of the child's remains being found came Friday morning after a four-day search that had involved local and state law enforcement as well as the FBI.

The disappearance of Saavni Venna resulted in an Amber Alert on Monday when the baby was discovered missing after the murder of her grandmother.

If you enjoyed this Post, Sign up for Newsletter

(And get daily dose of political, entertainment news straight to your inbox)

Rate This Article
(0 votes)