The investigators did not find any motive behind the murder.
Louis Marshall, the prosecutor of Bonner County, northern Idaho, has sought death penalty in the case involving the murder of Indian American cab driver Gagandeep Singh. Accused Jacob Corban Coleman, 20, had stabbed Singh 20 times before watching him bleed to death.
On January 11, Marshall requested the court for 45 days time to decide on whether or not to seek the death penalty for the accused and filed his notice of intent to seek the death penalty on February 28.
A native of Puyallup, Coleman is facing charges of first-degree murder for brutally killing Singh as he hired his cab in August 2017. According to the court documents, Coleman waited to see his victim slowly bleed to death.
The investigators did not find any motive behind the murder but they believe that the accused was in mental trauma after being rejected by Gonzaga University. The officers also said Coleman was experiencing suicidal and homicidal urges during the time he committed the crime.
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The court document also noted that Coleman had asked Singh to stop by a Walmart in Ponderay in order to buy a knife that was then used as the murder weapon. When Singh realized that Coleman was fooling him with nonexisting destinations, he stopped his car and requested Coleman to get out of the vehicle. Following which, Coleman stabbed Singh at least 20 times.
“Specifically, the State is giving noticed that it intends to prove one or more aggravating factors including 1) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity, and/or 2) by the murder or circumstances surrounding its commission, the defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life,” reads the notice filed by Marshall.
Reportedly, Singh was on the phone with his family just before he was killed, and had shared with them the details of the suspicious rider.
The phone was later recovered from the intersection where Singh’s body was found and the final message sent from it read: “Just call the f***ing cops already! It’s not hard,†which was texted by Coleman to Singh’s brother.