The trial for a Surrey man accused of killing his partner in a West 琉璃神社 hotel room in 2018 is set to resume next week.
Tejwant Danjou is expected to be back in court to face second-degree murder charges related to the July 22, 2018 death of his common-law spouse, Rama Gauravarapu. His trial will continue on June 1 after a lengthy two-month break caused by the changes made to court procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Danjou鈥檚 trial began on Feb. 25 with a bombshell guilty plea, that surprised Crown prosecutors just as much as it did his counsel.
The following day, Danjou retracted that plea. His lawyer, Donna Turko, explained it as a misunderstanding, saying Danjou while admitting to inflicting Gauravarapu鈥檚 fatal injuries, did not know that a guilty plea to second-degree murder meant he was admitting intent to kill.
鈥淲hen I went in with a set of admissions to sign 鈥� he refused to sign the admissions particular with the part that says he intended to kill the victim,鈥� Turko explained on Feb. 26.
From there, the trial began, revealing several details of the night RCMP officers found Gauravarapu clinging to life in a blood-spattered hotel room.
The two arrived in West 琉璃神社 on July 21, 2018, for a vacation in which they had planned to visit several local wineries.
However, they only made it to one, that being Mission Hill Family Estate the next day.
That trip ended up a turbulent one, with one witness citing a 鈥榟arsh鈥� altercation between the two.
Bryan Van, a winery tour driver, told the court of the interaction he saw between the two that resulted in Danjou 鈥渧iolently鈥� grabbing sunglasses off of Gauravarapu鈥檚 face before walking off by himself muttering curse words under his breath.
鈥溾�楩鈥攌ing c鈥攖; f鈥攌ing b鈥攃h.鈥� Harsh, harsh words,鈥� Van said, adding Danjou was staring intensely at Gauravarapu.
Interactions like this weren鈥檛 uncommon between the two. One such incident prompted a police response to Gauravarapu鈥檚 Surrey home after Danjou had allegedly assaulted her on May 25, 2018, just two months before her death.
Danjou and Gauravarapu returned to the hotel in separate cabs just after 5 p.m.
Surveillance footage played in court showed Danjou spend much of the next hour walking around the hotel lobby and hallways while Gauravarapu immediately headed to her hotel room.
Around 6:30 p.m., Danjou went into the same room.
Following a noise complaint, a hotel worker went to check on the room occupied by Danjou and Gauravarapu.
She knocked on the door, which was opened by Danjou. She testified that he told her 鈥榚verything was fine鈥�.
Looking past Danjou, she saw Gauravarapu lying on the ground in what she believed to be blood or wine. Gauravarapu asked the employee to call 911.
RCMP showed up to the hotel around 7:20 p.m.
Const. Bradly Hartridge testified that upon his arrival, he saw Gauravarapu lying on the ground with an extremely swollen face and covered in blood. A broken wine bottle laid close by.
Officers immediately performed first aid on Gauravarapu, who was still clinging to life, but she eventually succumbed to her injuries.
Following the police investigation, Danjou was located, with the help of the RCMP dog service, in a dumpster near the crime scene and subsequently arrested.
Hartridge also testified that during that arrest, he heard Danjou say, 鈥榳hat is homicide?鈥�
Following his arrest, Danjou was taken to 琉璃神社 General Hospital.
Const. Rick Goodwin was tasked with watching Danjou while he was attended to in hospital. He testified Danjou wanted the RCMP to check a Ford F150 in Surrey that contained 鈥渃rucial evidence鈥� of Gauravarapu鈥檚 infidelity.
Goodwin told the court that Danjou remained civil, polite and calm throughout their interaction. 鈥淗别 was always calm. Never yelled at me; never swore at me,鈥� said Goodwin.
In her cross-examination, defence lawyer Donna Turko noted Danjou appeared to have forgotten Goodwin鈥檚 name five times. She asked Goodwin if he noticed Danjou acting 鈥渁 little off.鈥�
Goodwin said given the circumstances, he wasn鈥檛 shocked.
鈥淢aybe he had a lot on his mind,鈥� said Goodwin.
Two nurses also testified Danjou had a 鈥渇lat affect鈥� and was 鈥渃alm and emotionless鈥� through their interactions with him.
However, that changed when Cpl. Meghan Foster, another officer keeping custody of Danjou on the night, informed him he was being investigated for his partner鈥檚 death.
鈥淗别 appeared to be shocked by this news,鈥� Foster testified.
Two weeks have been set aside for the completion of the trial.
READ MORE: Surrey couple had abusive relationship prior to woman鈥檚 West 琉璃神社 murder
READ MORE: Handholding before homicide: Video shows final hours before West 琉璃神社 murder
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