Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

Login Options

8:05 p.m. • 2-12-12

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Mon: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 50° F
  • Tue: Rain.
    • Hi: 53° F
  • Wed: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 57° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Marketplace Links

Social Links

Main Menu

Cary Man Indicted in Wife's Death; Drunken 911 Call Released


e-mail print friendly
Harish Purushottamdas Patel
Harish Purushottamdas Patel

A Cary man was indicted on a charge of murder Tuesday in connection with the death of his estranged wife.

Meanwhile Tuesday, authorities also released the Jan. 26 911 call Harish Patel, 60, made saying he was dying. That call led authorities to search his apartment again, three days after a previous search.

At times, during the seven-minute call, Patel is unresponsive as the 911 operator, and later, police, call out his name.

While emergency crews and police were at the scene responding to the call, they saw a knife and other documents they thought might be relevant in their probe into death of Vanlata Patel.

Her charred body was found in Virginia Jan. 16; Patel was arrested and charged Feb. 11.

An affidavit said Vanlata Patel's partially clothed body was found with a comforter underneath and that interlaced in the body, clothing and comforter was a section of rope.

The warrant also said she had disclosed physical and mental abuse to various family members and friends.

The Patels had been married since 1996 and had adult children from previous marriages. She filed for divorce in November, and court records indicate the two had a dispute with over how their financial assets, including more than $400,000 in Swiss bank accounts, should be divided.

According to the warrant, the couple had been discussing and had agreed to an out-of-court settlement regarding the division of assets and she might have been at her estranged husband's apartment on Jan. 16.

Patel, who was denied bond earlier this month, is in the Wake County jail awaiting trial. He is expected back in court March 6.

 

RELATED TOPICS: Wake County, Cary

e-mail print friendly

11 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 11 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
He isn't too smart. He should have tried to cover his tracks a little better. But, as they always say...play with fire long enough and you will get burned. Well, he is gonna burn now.

"Are you kidding me???"

Drinking alcohol is a sin to some in the Hindu religion. India actually instituted prohibition in 1977 but it was repealed two years later.

This guy was stupid. He probably really thought he was dying. They found her body on the 16th. He called 911 on the 26th when he got soused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_burning

What I can't figure out is how the police searched his house again after this 911 call and found MORE evidence. Did they not look hard enough the first time?

"Hindus typically don't drink"

Are you kidding me??? I, myself, am a Hindu and have seen many, many Hindu's drinking who in return aren't convicted of murder. This is just a sick minded individual.

OK. He calls 911 and tells the operator that he is dying. Did he drive all the way tp Virginia drunk and then set his wife on fire and drive back to Cary? You know, this was all a front to make himself look impaired in the court's eyes. When I first saw this story on the news, I knew then he had killed his wife. What a punk. Is he a legal citizen? And yes, he stated he hoped she was happy wherever she was. He knew where she was and still acted like the victim. Somebody give this guy the needle and save the taxpayers money!!!

Praying for their children.

God bless.

Rev. RB

View Comments VIEW ALL 11 COMMENTS
Report It

Multimedia

Click Here