Stressed-out Barclays banker ‘murdered his wife with an avalanche of more than 124 blows from an axe and knife at their multi-million pounds home’
The jury heard that Sanjay Nijhawe had become 'deranged' and suffered a nervous breakdown after quitting his job and finding out his wife wanted a divorce
A STRESSED-OUT London banker Googled how to identify the "soft parts of a female human skull" before fatally stabbing his wife 124 times with an axe and knife at their multi-million pound home, a jury has heard.
Sanjay Nijhawen stands accused of killing his wife with the court told that the 46-year-old had quit his high-paying job with Barclays, with a £670,000 mortgage still on the couple's home.
But his anxiety came to a head when his wife Sonita said she wanted a divorce - with the man telling police he had become "deranged".
Terrified family members arrived at the home after becoming concerned about the 35-year-old women, finding "blood everywhere", including covering the white marble floors of the exclusive property.
Prosecutor Sally O'Neill told the jury at that Sanjay Nijhawen had reigned down at least 124 vicious axe blows on the head and neck of his wife Sonita.
He is then accused slitting her throat, with the fatal cuts to the woman's neck and head, before the alleged murder sat beside his wife's body, stabbing his own legs repeatedly with a knife.
The, defendant dressed in a grey suit as he stood in the dock at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, denied a charge of murdering his wife.
Ms O'Neill said: "The number and nature of her cuts make it clear that she was the victim of a fatal and sustained attack. She had a very large number of cut and stab injuries to her neck and head.
"Underneath her body was an axe. He (Nijhawen) was sitting on the kitchen floor next to her body repeatedly stabbing himself to the legs with a small knife."
She said that the woman had 124 injuries to her body, including 40 cut and blunt force injuries to her head, which included 18 to the back of the head, 11 to the side and 10 to the left side of skull - most likely caused by an axe.
A post-mortem revealed that the blows from the axe were carried out with a "severe" degree of force.
Prosecutors also revealed the victim had suffered bruising to her arms with the injuries as well as axe cuts exposing her knuckles showing she had tried to defend herself from the blows.
The stab wounds also cut her carotid and jugular blood vessels with the cuts on her thighs were up to nine centimetres deep and totalled more than 60, the court heard.
The man told arresting officers that he had become "deranged" and suffered a nervous breakdown.
He was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting for treatment.
The court also heard that Nijhawen had used Google to search how to commit suicide and how to identify"soft parts of a female human skull".
The searches were made in the early hours before the horrific attack at breakfast time on Saturday, May 21. Nijhawen also searched for "things to do before suiciding/last things to do before I commit suicide", "pressure points", "Tesco chloroform", "unconscious, how to make" and a video on YouTube.
The jury was told that family relatives rushed to the mansion home after Nijhawen made bizarre phone calls and sent text messages about keys to the house.
Ms O'Neill said the husband had taken away his wife's mobile phone, despite the fact she was on call 24-7 as a director of two care homes run by her family.
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Jurors heard he claimed he took away the phone so his wife could not tell family members about the divorce discussion before a tuxedo family event on an upcoming Saturday.
Sonita's family quickly became suspicious after not hearing from the young woman, with her father Chander Parkesh immediately calling her daughter's husband.
When he was told his daughter was in the bathroom, Parkesh immediately drove to the gated home in Surrey with another one of his daughters.
On their arrival, the pair was horrified to find Sonita's body and a pool of blood.
Nijhawan was airlifted to hospital before he was arrested and told officers that he had argued with his wife who wanted to divorce him because of his mental problems.
He had recently resigned as a banker for Barclays Capital Wealth because of stress and the couple faced a £670,000 mortgage on the gated mansion with full interior and exterior CCTV camera surveillance, the jury heard.
The court also heard that police seized a note from him which he wrote in hospital and which stated: "I would like to issue a statement immediately offering my severe remorse. The mindless act has lost the life of a beautiful and amazing woman. I have failed in my duty as a son-in-law and a brother."
Prosecuting, Ms O'Neill said the defence case was expected to be that he had an abnormality of mental function at the time he attacked and killed his wife" which substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgement or exercise self control.
She said: ";It seems that in the preceding months leading up to this event Sanjay Nijhawan began to suffer from stress and anxiety partly as a result of his job and he was finding it very difficult to cope.
"He also felt under financial pressure because of the move to the house although it is not clear exactly why this was as both of the family were wealthy."
The trial continues.
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