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Teenager Faces Death Sentence for Killing Parents

J.M. Menezes

Nineteen-year-old Jasdeep Basra was indicted by a grand jury on Friday in Houston on capital murder charges for killing his parents with a baseball bat.

He could face the death penalty, but his lawyer is getting ready to argue he was mentally disturbed at the time of the murders.

Basra, described by one of his relatives as "lovely-dovey who would hug everyone and kiss them" was arrested on December 31 several hours after Harinder Singh Basra, a steel mill worker and Balvinder, his wife of 28 years, were found beaten to death in their home. Their home was also set on fire.

Harinder was 60 and his wife, a postal worker, was 50. Several relatives and family friends said Jasdeep had turned despondent and argumentative several months before the murders. His parents, who reportedly were planing to return permanently to India, had even discussed sending Jasdeep for counseling a few weeks before their death.

But despite Jasdeep's confession to the murders, some relatives believe that he was coerced into the confession. "He and his parents got along like nobody's business," 17-year-old Jimmy Purewal, a cousin, told the Houston Chronicle. "I think he confessed out of anger. Anyone would confess when the police are telling them for 12 hours that they did something."

But the police insist Jasdeep was calm and clear in his statement to the police that came out after he failed a polygraph test. Jasdeep was not at home when the police arrived at the scene of the crime. Nor was his older brother, Amardeep, who lives in Austin.

When first questioned, Jasdeep, who had been staying with his parents for several months after dropping out of a community college, told detectives his parents were alive when he left the home that night.

But after failing the polygraph test, he reportedly told them that he used a baseball bat to beat his mother first before turning on his father. The mother was still alive when the firefighters arrived. They noticed the extensive wounds on her when they tried to revive her.

Jasdeep also told the police that he had been contemplating the murders for many months. He has not explained fully why he did so. If officials do not ask for death penalty, Jasdeep Basra could be in prison for at least 40 years without parole.

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