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Chilling moment ‘monster’ is caught on CCTV before stabbing victim to death…as new show goes ‘inside the forensic tent’
Chilling footage shows vile killer buying knives in local store and stalking his ex before attack
SCREAMS ring out from a basement flat in Headingly, Leeds, and a startled lodger runs out and calls 999.
As blood-soaked victim Harleen Kaur, 32, is rushed to hospital, on September 5, 2002, a potential suspect is arrested outside his flat, a mile away. He is spattered with blood.
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By the time news comes through of Harleen’s death - from knife wounds in her chest - the forensic team are already combing the scene of the attack, carefully analysing every crucial piece of evidence.
In a remarkable new fly-on-the-wall series, Forensics: Murder Scene, which airs tonight, a TV crew was given unprecedented access to West Yorkshire’s Homicide Investigation Team and the forensics support unit, capturing footage and interviewing key investigators in the immediate aftermath of a shocking murder.
The first show reveals chilling CCTV footage of suspect Satpreet Singh Gandhi - Harleen’s estranged husband - calmly buying kitchen knives as well as being caught on camera outside her flat, armed with the murder weapon, two days before the attack.
It’s this damning footage which helped uncover a sickening story of jealousy, controlling behaviour, violence and stalking - and escalated the crime to premeditated murder.
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"Often all the public sees is the white tent that protects a crime scene. We wanted to go inside that tent,” Jemma Martinez, series producer at ITN Productions tells us.
“In reality, the work done at the scene is just the beginning of many hours of detailed investigation.
"Capturing every step in the investigation was crucial so we had four production crews following the police and forensic teams on the cases we feature for nine months, day and night.
“It's so much more intricate than the CSI's you see in TV dramas. When you're there, on site, the impact of their work becomes even more powerful.”
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Blood-soaked crime scene
Police call the period straight after a crime “the golden hour” because it’s the optimum time to gather forensic evidence.
Arriving at the flat within minutes of the call, the team find thick blood on the floor and spatters on the sofa and wall.
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“Other than that, the room is pretty tidy,” observes forensics crime scene manager, Jasmine White. “It doesn’t look like there has been a struggle.”
Forensic lead, Kate Whitehead explains: “The presence of blood at a crime scene is quite basic but it’s the interpretation of it that helps paint a picture of what has gone on.
“There may be contact stains, which is where a person or an item has made contact with a surface, there might be blood dripped in a trail which can be followed, there might be splatter which is suggestive of impact strikes into wet blood, there might be expiated blood, which is where somebody has breathed out blood in their chest cavity.”
An examination of Harleen's body shows a deep stab wound to the top of her left breast. Small cuts on her hands are identified as self-defence marks.
The case is assigned to DI Amanda Sykes, who takes over the investigation, liaising with forensics and keeping her team informed with every development.
CCTV footage from a shop across the road from Ghandi's flat shows him becoming aware of the arrival of police. He then walks over to them and seems to confess to the killing. The victim is his wife.
The blood on him, a 20cm long kitchen knife found in his flat, the lodger’s identification and his ‘admission’ all suggest that this is a straightforward case.
But to the detective's surprise, in their subsequent interviews with him he answers “no comment” to every question asked.
Jealousy and controlling nature
Hand-written notes in his flat reveal his state of mind and outline his feelings towards his estranged wife.
“The notes are all about how coming to the UK [from India] has affected his life,” says DS Emma Winfield.
“How things started to go wrong, how Harleen was making friends with a new group of males and females and was partying. He said that she wasn’t spending time with him and he had turned to drink.”
He had previously been married to Harleen’s older sister in India, with whom he had a child.
After she had died of a heart attack, he married Harleen and had a second child. They had been bringing up both together in the UK until they separated and at the time of the murder the children were living with their grandparents in India.
She brought light into the darkest of rooms with just a single, cheeky smile and her eyes had the most beautiful twinkle to them. Now everything just seems dark without her
Message from Harleen's faily
As the investigation continued, Ghandi’s family in India came forward with concerns about his mental health, after WhatsApp messages revealed suicidal thoughts as his marriage fell apart.
One reads: “We started some conversation and she told me she was going to live with her friends and she started to pack her bags.
"I was drunk. I just wanted to stop her from going. I pushed her and held her tightly. I never had any intention of beating her. I just wanted to stop her.”
In his own words, he had admitted previous physical violence between them.
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“It was just a young lady going out with different people but he sees that almost like a slur on him and that it’s something he needs to take control of,” says DS Daniel Townend.
More and more evidence against Singh began to mount up, including the key element that the murder was not spur of the moment but premeditated, which carries a heftier prison sentence.
Witnesses report having seen a man keeping watch outside Harleen’s flat in the days leading up to her death.
Descriptions match the appearance of Singh, including a red rucksack he was carrying, which was found in his flat with blood inside.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a - available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
The CCTV footage from the restaurant across the road showed him watching the flat, and he was caught on the camera of his local Asda buying a set of kitchen knives, one of which was the one found smeared with blood.
Nearby, in the flat, in stark contrast to the macabre murder weapon, is a heart-shaped framed photograph of the pair of them, smiling and looking in love.
Tests on his mobile phone show he was in the area in the days leading up to the murder and CCTV cameras two days before the murder show him walking down the steps to Harleen’s flat with a knife in his hand.
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It is believed she was not at home at the time so he turned back.
DNA from the blood obtained from the shirt he was wearing when arrested also matched that of the victim.
In the face of such overwhelming evidence, Gandhi dramatically breaks down and finally admits to having murdered his wife.
DC Craig Crosswell, interviewing him at the time, recalls, “I noticed his legs shaking and his body buckled when the gravity of what he was being charged with hit him.
"At one point I thought he was going to faint but he managed to compose himself and rest against the wall. Sometimes, having that charge of murder read out to you is overwhelming.”
Talking about the groundbreaking footage in the show, Caroline Short, Head of UK Factual at ITN said: "It was a privilege to work with West Yorkshire Police to capture the exceptional work, patience and phenomenal skill that goes into bringing murderers to justice.
“Our priority was to share that experience with viewers while not affecting their work or the investigation.
"The subject matter is sensitive and the stakes for all the police teams involved are high; the result is a unique and totally authentic observational documentary series that gets to the heart of the crime.”
Tragic loss of 'laughter and light'
Singh was given a sentence of 23 years and four months at Leeds Crown Court, in January 2023.
A heart-breaking message was read out by Harleen’s brother in India, explaining how her murder had affected the family.
“Harleen had laughter that would bounce off the walls and resonate with everyone.
"She brought light into the darkest of rooms with just a single, cheeky smile and her eyes had the most beautiful twinkle to them. Now everything just seems dark without her.
“Every night I and the children and my parents have nightmares of what you did, of how you hurt her and how scared she must have felt in those final moments. How she probably died feeling like she was alone or unloved.
"You have traumatised so many of us. Her children are not able to sleep or study and have gone into depression and always say, ‘I want to see my mother and talk to her. How can dad do this to our mother? Doesn’t he love us?’
“Marriage is about love and affection, which Harleen gave you and you are not worthy of it and she wanted a divorce. The first time she fought for herself and you killed her.
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"She is not a property. If you don’t want, don’t like or don’t listen, you destroy. She was a human being and not a monster like you. You will never be forgiven. What you have done to her will never be forgotten.”
Forensics: Murder Squad is a six part series which airs from tonight on C5
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