Accused murderer drunk at the time of wife’s killing, court hears
Tejwant Danjou was drunk at the time he’s accused of murdering his wife, court heard Wednesday.
The Surrey realtor’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit of .08, according to an expert who analyzed two samples taken from Danjou after he was arrested.
The range for Danjou’s blood alcohol content at the time he’s suspected of killing Rama Gauravarapu in a West Kelowna motel room was given at between .1 and .15 by forensic alcohol expert Karen Chan.
Within this range, she testified, Danjou would have been intoxicated and would likely have had a flushed face, balancing problems, slurred speech, and cognitive impairments such as poor judgment and diminished vision. The actual degree of impairment exhibited by someone who’s legally over the limit depends on their experience drinking alcohol, Chan said.
Danjou is accused of killing Gauravarapu about 7 p.m. on July 22, 2018 in a room at the Best Western Wine Country Inn in West Kelowna. The couple, from the Lower Mainland, had been in the Okanagan on a wine tour.
After he was found by police hiding in a dumpster near the hotel, two blood-alcohol samples were taken from Danjou, one at 10:15 p.m. and one just before midnight.
Working backward from those two measurements, Chan produced the likely range for Danjou’s blood alcohol level at 7 p.m. at between .1 and .15.
At one point, defence lawyer Donna Turko asked Chan to determine the likely blood alcohol level of a 185-pound person who has consumed nine five-ounce glasses of wine and two shots of vodka in a sixhour period.
When Danjou’s trial for second-degree murder began, he initially pleaded guilty then withdrew the plea, indicating through Turko that he did not have the intent to kill Gauravarapu.
The trial, before Judge Alison Beames, continues in B.C. Supreme Court.