Washington, November 17: Fifty-nine-year-old Indian American Sikh Gurparkash Singh Khalsa, who was serving life sentence in a California prison for murdering his daughter’s boyfriend, died of cardiac arrest, jail officials said. According to newspaper reports, Khalsa was pronounced dead on October 29.
He had started serving his life sentence last December. Khalsa was found guilty of using a handgun to kill Ajmer Singh Hothi, the boyfriend of his daughter, on March 27, 2007. But, the prison authorities have ruled out suicide. Michael Nilsson, the public information officer at Salinas Valley State Prison, was quoted as saying to India-West that ”he (Khalsa) was in a cell by himself and there were no obvious signs of suicide.” There were no signs of self-inflicted wounds, he added. “There was nothing of suspicion at the scene, nothing to indicate there was foul play or suicide,” Lt Kevin Gardepie of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department was quoted as saying. The former owner of a French Camp trucking firm, Khalsa had been provided a completely vegetarian diet at the prison in accordance with his religious mandates, the official said. The newspaper said, Khalsa was transferred to Salinas Valley State Prison on October 7, from the Deuel Vocational Institution, where he had been held following sentencing last December.