A doctor with terminal cancer who killed a pediatrician before taking his own life in a medical office in Austin was earlier accused of abusing his ex-wife.
Bharat Narumanchi, according to police, took hostages before arresting 43-year-old Dr. Katherine Lindley killed Dodson during a murder at the Pediatric Medical Group, was charged in 2012 with domestic abuse in Hawaii, but the case was later dismissed. , reports the Austin American-Statesman.
Narumanchi, 43, characterized his ex-wife in one court as an unhappy person from an early age, claiming that she only married him to obtain U.S. citizenship that ‘eluded her when she lived as a student in the US’ reports the newspaper.
In the court reports quoted by KXAN, it appears that Narumanchi filed for divorce in 2012. The couple had joint custody of their daughter, and they attached Narumanchi to a house in north Austin, where residents with the same last name currently live, but he is not mentioned as one of the two. owners, the station reported.
Austin police Jeff Greenwalt said investigators believe the doctor’s terminal cancer diagnosis ‘probably played a big role’ in that he took four hostages who escaped or were released before police arrived.
Hostages told the Statesman-America that Narumanchi stormed into the office around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday while carrying two suitcase bags, a pistol and a shotgun.
Meanwhile, Narumanchi’s family members told investigators they began investigating the doctor’s hospital care after his diagnosis that he only had ‘weeks’ to live. Police did not indicate what type of cancer he had, KXAN reported.
Public records cited by the Statesman-American show that Narumanchi lived in several states. He recently practiced at Providence Health Services in Southern California and is also licensed as a physician in Oklahoma, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Florida.
After Narumanchi left his medical school at the St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, he spent 18 months at the St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Manhattan before being fired in December 2009, reports KXAN.
Narumanchi later filed a grievance over his dismissal and then rejected a proposed settlement, according to federal court records.
The doctor later filed a $ 24,700 claim with the bankruptcy court when the now-completed hospital filed Chapter 11 in 2010, but it was later revised to just $ 1,524, according to the information.
In 2012, Narumanchi obtained a “physician and surgeon A” license to practice medicine in California, where it was valid until August 2022, reports KXAN.
It remains unclear why Narumanchi targeted the hospital, although he was turned down weeks ago for a volunteer position at the facility, investigators said. A staff member told the statesman-American that Narumanchi did not meet Dodson during the visit.
“We do not know if that is why he decided to come back and if there was another involvement he may have had,” Greenwalt said Wednesday.
Narumanchi’s parents said in a statement on Wednesday that they were cooperating with investigators, but that they did not understand what motivated their son to murder.
“The consequences of this action will remain with us forever and we can only hope that faith, spiritual healing and God’s light will guide us through the darkness of this moment,” the statement read.
