Newstalk ZB
The man who murdered Dunedin resident Gurjit Singh in a frenzied knife attack has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17.5 years. Rajinder, 35, appeared before Justice Rachel Dunningham in the Dunedin High Court today, months after a jury found him guilty of murder following a trial late last year. At sentencing, the court heard Rajinder admitted for the first time that he was ever at the home of Singh the night of the murder - though his version of events was disputed. Singh, 27, was found outside his Pine Hill home on January 26, 2024, with 46 stab and slash wounds and partially decapitated. Before sentencing, the court heard five victim impact statements from Singh’s grieving parents, three sisters and his wife, describing the emotional and financial devastation caused by his death. His parents said Singh was “the centre of our lives” and the family’s only son. “We sold all our land, everything we owned, to give him a chance to study,” they said. “He worked hard, built a life in a foreign land, and dreamed of supporting us in our old age. “He deserved time, he deserved happiness, he deserved life.” Members of Dunedin's Indian community knew Gurjit Singh to be a friendly, hard-working, good guy. They described the moment they learned of his death as the collapse of their world, and the trial itself as a further ordeal. “To sit in the courtroom and hear, piece by piece, the details of how our son’s life was taken shattered something inside us forever,” they said. “The lack of answers is a torture we live with every day. We are surviving, but we are no longer living.” They said the killing had left them financially ruined, having sold their only security to send him overseas. “Our last hope died with him,” they said. Rajinder, 35, was sentenced in the Dunedin High Court after being found guilty of murdering Gurjit Singh last year. Photo / Ben Tomsett Singh’s sister, who is studying in New Zealand, said her brother had been her protector and guide. She said his death had destroyed her sense of safety and left her struggling with anxiety and grief. Another sister described him as the family’s “biggest hope” and sole provider, saying his death had left their parents “broken both physically and mentally”. “There is no source of income left for our family,” she said. Gurjit Singh was found dead outside his Pine Hill home in January, 2024. Photo / Ben Tomsett Their eldest sister described Singh as the “foundation” of the family, who supported them emotionally and financially. “Without him, we have lost not only a loved one, but the foundation on which our lives were built,” she said. Singh’s wife, whom he married in May 2023, said she had been widowed within months of their wedding. “The last time we held each other was at the airport,” she said. Days before she was due to join him in New Zealand, she received the news of his death. “In a single instant, every dream, every hope, every plan we had disappeared,” she said. “At such a young age, I became a widow — a reality I never imagined.” She described feeling “broken, helpless and empty”, struggling to eat and sleep, and unable to continue her education. Gurjit Singh's father Nishan Singh, outside court the day Raijinder was found guilty of murder last year. Photo / Ben Tomsett “Life without him feels incomplete. I feel like I have nothing left.” She also spoke of the stigma she faced as a young widow: “Instead of receiving compassion, I often feel misunderstood,” she said. Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said the offending warranted a life sentence, with the only issue being the minimum non-parole period. He submitted a starting point of 18 to 20 years’ imprisonment, pointing to multiple aggravating features. Those included the “extreme brut...
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