Murder of Lakhvinder Cheema

Lakhvir Kaur Singh
Born	Lakhvir Kaur Singh
Ethnicity	Indian[1]
Known for	Murder of ex-lover through poisoning
Religion	Sikh[2]
Criminal charge	Murder and Grievous bodily harm
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment (minimum of 23 years)
Criminal status	In prison
Spouse	Aunkar Singh
Children	3

Lakhvinder Cheema was murdered by his former lover, Lakhvir Kaur Singh through the use of the poison aconitine. Singh became known as "The Curry Killer" due to the food to which the poison was added.^[3][4] The case is of note due to the unusual and cruel method of killing and degree of premeditation, with Singh travelling to India to procure the ancient poison aconitine. Singh received a life sentence with a 23 year minimum term.

Background

Singh had engaged in a 16 year affair with Lakhvinder Cheema after his first marriage had failed. She had three children and her husband Aunkar was being treated for cancer.^[5]

The main event leading up to the murder of Cheema was his breaking off the sixteen year affair he had been having with Singh to marry a younger woman in October 2008.^[4] Prior to this Singh had also threatened that she would burn down his house when she found him in bed with the woman he would later leave her for.^[6]

Murder

When Singh returned from a trip to India the following month, she brought back with her the Aconite that she would later use in the murders. On 27 January Singh went to the victim's home and laced a curry in his refrigerator with the poison as she knew that he and his fiancée would eat that food later that evening.^[4]

After consuming dinner the victims soon began vomiting. Cheema's face became numb. He then lost his sight followed by the use of his arms and legs. During a 999 call he stated he had been poisoned by his ex-girlfriend.^[7] Cheema's sister and sons drove the couple to hospital though Cheema died within an hour of arriving. Choough suffered the same symptoms but was placed into a medically induced coma and made a full recovery.^[8]

A month prior to his murder Cheema has also been hospitalised for a week with suspected poisoning after consuming food prepared by Singh.^[6]

Trial

The case gained attention due to the particularity cruel nature of Cheema's killing. Victims of aconite poisoning suffer severe vomiting, become paralysed and have the sensation of ants crawling over their body. Their organs stop working and they die from asphyxiation, yet they remain conscious throughout.^[9][10] The case was also unusual, as the last prosecution for murder using aconite was that of George Henry Lamson in 1882.

The trial took place at the Old Bailey in 2010.^[6] Singh attempted to blame her brother in law Varinda for the crime but a lodger had witnessed her taking the curry out of the fridge on the day of the murder.^[11] It was also revealed that a plastic bag contacting brown powder was found in Singh's coat. She had claimed this was medication for a rash on her neck, whereas it was in fact aconite, matching the poison found in the curry.^[7]

Sentence

Singh was convicted on 10 February 2010 of the murder of Lakhvinder Cheema and grievous bodily harm against his new fiancée who survived the attack (Singh was acquitted of attempted murder). Singh was also acquitted of administering poison to her ex-lover's food on a previous occasion.^[12]

The Crown had sought life imprisonment for Singh with a minimum term of 30 years, due to the gravity of the case and the level of premeditation involved in addition to the fact there had been two victims. Singh received a life sentence with a 23 year minimum term.^[12]

See also

George Henry Lamson

References

1. ^ PTI (2010-02-12). "UK: Indian-origin woman gets life for killing lover with poison". The Times of India (Timesofindia.indiatimes.com). http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/UK-Indian-origin-woman-gets-life-for-killing-lover-with-poison/articleshow/5564254.cms. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
2. ^ Hasan Suroor (2010-01-08). "News / International : Sikh on trial for killing former boyfriend". http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article77296.ece. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
3. ^ "Court News UK Video Vaults". Courtnewsuk.co.uk. http://www.courtnewsuk.co.uk/video_vaults/?page=3. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} [1]^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Rebecca Camber. "Lakhvir Singh found guilty of killing ex-lover with poisoned curry". Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249913/Lakhvir-Singh-guilty-killing-ex-lover-poisoned-curry.html#ixzz1Pyw9NkKK. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Jealous wife 'threatened to burn down ex-lover's house before killing him and poisoning his young fiancee'". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241434/Jealous-wife-threatened-burn-ex-lovers-house-killing-poisoning-young-fiancee.html. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Majumdar, Debabani (2010-02-10). "Spurned lover's poisoned curry revenge". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8490795.stm. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
8. ^ Emily Andrews (2010-01-08). "Curry murder fiancee describes terrifying night partner was killed | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241627/Curry-murder-fiancee-describes-terrifying-night-partner-killed.html. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
9. ^ Česky. "Aconitine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitine. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
10. ^ Rebecca Camber. "Lakhvir Singh found guilty of killing ex-lover with poisoned curry". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249913/Lakhvir-Singh-guilty-killing-ex-lover-poisoned-curry.html#ixzz19MlGshib. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
11. ^ "Curry poison killer Lakhvir Singh jailed for life". BBC News. 2010-02-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8509798.stm. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "R v Lakhvir Kaur Singh (Central Criminal Court) February 2010". Argent Chambers London. 2010-02-17. http://www.argentchambers.co.uk/site/news/r_v_lakhvirkaur_singh.html. Retrieved 2011-07-09. 

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death