‘One of the coldest and most calculated murders’.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Baldeo Taneja, 63, a biostatistician convicted of murdering his ex-wife last year in Montgomery County, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Taneja stood expressionless as Circuit Court Judge Michael D. Mason called his actions among the worst he has seen in 40 years as a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney in the county, reported The Washington Post.
“The evidence in this case demonstrates that this is certainly one of the coldest and most calculated murders that this court has ever seen,” Mason said.
On September 28, 2013, near his home in Nashville, Taneja and his wife, Raminder Kaur, purchased two pistols at a gun shop. Two weeks later, according to testimony, they drove to Montgomery County, spent the night at a Red Roof Inn and then drove to the Germantown neighborhood of Taneja’s ex-wife, Preeta Gabba.
When Gabba left her apartment building, Kaur walked up, pulled out a snub-nosed revolver and shot her three times, prosecutors said. The couple drove off and made their way to a nearby Amway conference, where they checked in to try to establish an alibi — staying just long enough to smile and greet old friends — and then headed home.
The motive, prosecutors said, was Taneja’s anger over a contentious divorce and alimony payments to Gabba.
Taneja, who holds a PhD, was a college professor who went on to a career in the pharmaceutical industry.
Kaur, 64, was convicted of first-degree murder at the same trial. Her sentencing has been delayed. The state Office of the Public Defender has requested a new trial, asserting that one of its attorneys provided ineffective representation during the trial. That request has not been ruled on, said the Post story.