The death sentence will now be sent to Gov. Tom Wolf
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence imposed on Raghunandan Yandamuri, convicted of killing an infant and her grandmother.
The 30-year-old Indian techie, of Upper Merion, was convicted by a Montgomery County Court jury of first-degree murder in connection with two murders. On Oct. 22, 2012, Yandamuri killed 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna and her 10-month-old granddaughter Saanvi, after a botched kidnapping attempt, patch.com reported.
According to the report, Justice Max Baer reaffirmed that the evidences against Yandamuri was sufficient, and the court also rejected the convict’s allegations of unfair treatment.
Yandamuri had earlier told investigators that he panicked and that the deaths were accidental. The prosecutors argued that he knew the baby’s parents and planned the kidnapping plot to pay for a gambling habit.
The court found that the sentence was based on the evidence presented at the trial. The death sentence will now be sent to Gov. Tom Wolf, who declared a state-wide moratorium on death penalty in 2015.