London - A debt-laden City banker who stabbed his wife 124 times with an axe and a knife was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday.
But he was cleared of murder after a jury heard his mental state left him feeling he had “no option” but to carry out the horrific attack.
After his wife Sonita, 38, asked him for a divorce, Sanjay Nijhawan subjected her to the frenzied assault in the kitchen of their £2 million (about R34 million) gated mansion, and she died from injuries to her head and neck.
The businessman, 46, who had earlier Googled “soft parts of a female human skull” and “Tesco chloroform”, then started stabbing at his own legs in an attempt to kill himself. The couple’s four-year-old son was in the house at the time.
At the time of Mrs Nijhawan’s death the family had £1million debts including huge credit card bills. Neighbours said her husband often complained that the house was costing too much.
After the killing, Nijhawan was airlifted to hospital, where he was seen by a psychiatrist and immediately deemed a high suicide risk.
He had been struggling with depression in the run-up to the incident and was concerned about a £670,000 mortgage on their home, Guildford Crown Court heard.
His mental state had led him to quit his highly-paid job with Barclays, although his own company offering financial intermediation appeared to be doing well.
As his illness spiralled, he “saw no way out” after his accountant wife said she was leaving him, the jury were told.
Following an eight-day trial, Nijhawan was cleared of murder by a majority verdict but convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He will be sentenced on Monday.
The couple, who were together for 11 years, had been living at their six-bedroom house in an exclusive enclave of Surrey dubbed “Britain’s Beverly Hills” for just a fortnight before the killing took place.
The area, near St George’s Hill in Weybridge, has been home to a string of stars including Sir Cliff Richard, Ronnie Wood and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
Having bought a property in the area for £925,000 in 2009, the couple knocked it down and began constructing their “dream home”, staying with Mrs Nijhawan’s millionaire parents in Hampton, West London, as the work was carried out.
However, the construction project was said to have taken an unprecedented toll on Nijhawan’s financial and emotional state.
The court heard he began acting erratically four months before the killing and was prescribed anti-depressants, but became increasingly difficult to live with.
A neighbour on the road, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: “Their whole life was building this house and how stressful it was.
“They were always outside that gate of theirs as they had builders coming in and out.”
Opening the case, Sally O’Neill, prosecuting, said: “It seems that in the months leading up to this event Sanjay Nijhawan began to suffer from stress and anxiety partly as a result of his job and he was finding it very difficult to cope. He also felt under financial pressure because of the move to the house although it is not clear exactly why this was as both of the family were wealthy.”
The night before the killing on May 21, the couple had a bitter row that culminated in Mrs Nijhawan telling her husband she wanted a divorce and taking off her wedding ring.
At breakfast the following morning, Nijhawan waited for her to come downstairs before inflicting 124 injuries on her body, head and neck with knife and axe. A post-mortem examination revealed blows from the axe were carried out with “severe” force.
Nijhawan then sent a series of bizarre texts and phone calls to relatives telling them “a storm may be coming” and “it was all a house of cards”.
The worrying correspondence prompted Mrs Nijhawan’s father Chander Parkash to turn up to the house with one of his daughters, where he discovered the bloodbath. During the trial, psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph said Nijhawan had lost his ability to think rationally in the moments before the attack, remarking that before the incident he rarely lost his temper.
“If he had not been depressed, I think there’s no possibility he would have killed his wife,” he told the court.
“He went into a state of mind where he could see no way out, things built up in his mind.”
Speaking after the jury’s verdict, Mr Parkash, 66, said: “When I went into the kitchen I saw what no father should have to see, my daughter lying in a pool of blood.”
Speaking about their housing worries, he said: “I supervised that building brick by brick.
“We built that house like Fort Knox, with burglar alarms, fire alarms, security to keep her safe from the outside world but little did we know the danger was from the inside.
“I pray to God that no father should have to arrange their child’s funeral. Every morning I wake up and I see her face in front of my eyes.”
The couple’s young son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is now being cared for by Nijhawan’s sister.
Nijhawan did not give evidence at his trial. He has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.
Daily Mail