Karnataka Couple, Son Found Dead in US Home; Cops Suspect Double Murder-Suicide

(Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide. If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)

Video Producer: Aparna Singh

Video Editor: Shohini Bose 

A couple and their six-year-old son who hail from Karnataka were found dead at their home in Maryland in the United States on Friday, 18 August, Baltimore Sun reported.

Preliminary investigation suggests that it is a case of double murder-suicide, the Baltimore Police said.

Thirty-seven-year-old Yogesh Honnala Nagarajappa is suspected to have killed his wife Prathibha Y Amarnath (35) and son Yash Honnala (6) using a gun before shooting himself, the Baltimore Police said in a tweet.

"Based on the initial investigation, this incident is believed to be a double murder-suicide that suspect Yogesh H Nagarajappa committed. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer will complete a thorough examination into the manner and cause of death," the tweet said.

Based on the initial investigation, this incident is believed to be a double murder suicide that suspect Yogesh H. Nagarajappa committed. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer will complete a thorough examination into the manner and cause of death.

— Baltimore County Police Department (@BaltCoPolice) August 19, 2023

"Each appeared to suffer from an apparent gunshot wound," the police said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Techies Who Hail From Karnataka

The couple, both software engineers, hailed from Davanagere district in Karnataka. The family of the couple said they had been living in the US for the past nine years, The Indian Express reported.

"We received a phone call from the police saying all three died by suicide, and they were probing the reason behind the death," Yogesh's mother Shobha told the media, as per IE. His father Nagarajappa was a tahsildar, who died a few years ago.

"Yogesh called me over the phone regularly. I am living here with my other son Puneeth. There were no domestic issues between the couple. We need to know the reason behind their deaths."

Shobha, as per The Indian Express

She has written to the government authorities, seeking to bring the bodies of her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson back to India.