Gurjeet Singh murder: Wife of convicted killer sentenced over hidden evidence

A 29-year-old woman who tried to dispose of shoes worn by her husband on the night he murdered Dunedin man Gurjeet Singh has been sentenced to five months’ home detention, The New Zealand Herald has reported.

Gurpreet Kaur was sentenced in the Dunedin High Court on Wednesday after admitting attempting to pervert the course of justice by trying to discard footwear belonging to her husband, Rajinder.

Rajinder was sentenced to life imprisonment five months ago for murdering Singh, with a minimum non-parole period of 17.5 years.

The court heard Kaur had no knowledge of or involvement in Singh’s murder, but later attempted to get rid of shoes her husband had worn on the night of the killing, Herald reported.

Singh, a well-known member of Dunedin’s Indian community, was found outside his home in January 2024, partially decapitated and with 46 stab or slash wounds.

According to the summary of facts, police approached Kaur at her workplace on February 5 and asked her to provide a statement about her movements around the time Singh was killed.

Before leaving with officers, Kaur took her handbag into a toilet cubicle and emerged appearing distressed.

Police subsequently discovered a pair of dark lace-up shoes in a bin. Kaur later admitted she had discarded them because she was afraid.

Forensic examination found glass fragments embedded in the soles of the shoes that were consistent with glass from a broken window at the murder scene, Herald reported.

Justice Cameron Mander found Kaur’s actions were more than a spontaneous response to being approached by police.

He noted she had already taken the shoes to her workplace before officers arrived, indicating an earlier intention to remove them from the couple’s home and demonstrating a “high degree of culpability”.

According to Herald's report, Kaur’s lawyer submitted that her actions were influenced by loyalty to her husband as well as cultural factors connected with her upbringing and marriage.

The court heard Kaur moved from Haryana, India, to New Zealand in 2023 following an arranged marriage. She had known Rajinder for about a month before they married, and he and his family became her main source of support after she left her family in India.

Justice Mander accepted Kaur’s cultural and religious background had contributed to a “compelling and misguided” sense of loyalty towards her husband and granted a 10% sentencing discount on those grounds.

However, he said courts needed to take a “hard line” when a person knowingly tried to conceal evidence connected with a murder.

Gurjeet Singh’s wife told the court through a victim impact statement that losing her husband had been the most painful experience of her life. She said Kaur had been given an opportunity to do the right thing but chose not to, Herald reported.

Singh’s younger sister said Kaur’s actions had added to the family’s shock, anger and emotional suffering. She said she could not understand why Kaur had helped the man responsible for her brother’s death instead of encouraging him to take responsibility.

The court also heard Kaur’s relationship with Rajinder and his family had deteriorated following his murder conviction.

She has since obtained protection orders against Rajinder and several members of his family and is seeking a divorce. Kaur is now largely reliant on government and other support in New Zealand.

Justice Mander adopted a starting point of 16 months’ imprisonment, saying Kaur’s conduct was serious enough that she could alternatively have faced a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder, which carries the same maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

Discounts for Kaur’s guilty plea, previous good character, and cultural and religious factors amounted to 35%, bringing the notional sentence down to 10 months’ imprisonment.

Justice Mander declined the defence request for a community-based sentence, saying offending that interfered with the administration of justice required strong deterrence.

Kaur was ultimately sentenced to five months’ home detention, Herald reported.