Chilling allegations in mom’s killing
Documents say accused killer confronted victim’s child in apartment before crime
The nine-year-old son of the Windsor woman who was raped and killed in her bed earlier this summer was confronted in their apartment on the night of the crime by the possible killer, say U.S. court documents. According to chilling details revealed in extradition documents for Jitesh “Jay” Bhogal — who is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated sexual assault, and break and enter — the boy told Windsor police that a tall, darkhaired, bearded man he had never seen before entered his bedroom. The documents contain untested allegations relating to the charges against Bhogal that have not been proven in a court of law. The stranger told the boy to stay in bed and go to sleep, then went elsewhere in the apartment, they say. The boy later heard female screaming. He was too scared to get out of bed to investigate, say the documents. In the morning, the boy awoke to see his mother was still in bed, so he spent the day eating cookies and watching videos. When an alarm on his mother’s phone alerted him it was time for his evening shower, he couldn’t rouse her. He used the phone to text his father that “mommy won’t wake up.”
The father drove to the apartment, found his son and the body, and called police. The court documents state that the victim had a close relationship with the boy’s father — her ex-boyfriend. They spent the evening before her death shopping with their child, and exchanged text messages late into the night. The documents identify the boy and his mother only by their initials, but according to Windsor police news releases, Bhogal’s charges relate to the death of Autumn Taggart, 31, whose body was found in her apartment on the third floor of 1382 University Ave. W. the evening of June 10.
As of Tuesday, Bhogal remained in the hands of U.S. federal authorities in Washington State — more than 3,000 kilometres away from the crime scene.
According to the U.S. court documents, Bhogal is a 28-year-old Canadian citizen who worked in the Detroit area.
He was arrested at his parent’s home in Kent, Wash., on Aug. 17. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle said Bhogal is scheduled for a detention and status hearing on Friday.
Bhogal has a NEXUS card and travelled almost daily between Windsor and his workplace in Warren, Mich., but he has not been back to Canada since he crossed the border on June 10, say the court documents.
An autopsy showed the victim, referred to as “AT,” was badly beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled, the documents say. She was discovered in her bed with dried blood on her face and mouth, bruises, abrasions, and other injuries to her head, neck, torso, and extremities.
Investigators allege in the documents that a man, who they believe was Bhogal, visited the building to buy cocaine from an acquaintance in a unit that neighbours the victim’s apartment. Windsor police were initially put onto Bhogal’s trail by cellphone records, calls allegedly made to arrange the drug transaction. Detectives believe the killer gained access to the victim’s apartment by climbing onto vehicles in the building ’s parking lot, scaling two exterior balconies, and entering through an unlocked slidingglass door.
A dark-coloured, new model SUV allegedly belonging to Bhogal was seen in the building ’s parking lot near the victim’s apartment until at least 5:30 a.m., say the court documents.
Bhogal is employed by “a major automobile manufacturer” in the role of “senior design release engineer,” the documents say.
U.S. Homeland Security agents, working at the request of Windsor police, tracked Bhogal and covertly obtained a DNA sample from him by retrieving a glass he had used to drink at a brewery in Warren, Mich. The sample matched DNA evidence swabbed from the victim’s right breast, the court documents allege. Homeland Security agents also tracked the accused via cellphone activity to his parent’s home in Kent, Wash. Extradition documents say U.S. authorities believe Bhogal is a flight risk, as well as “a danger to the community here and abroad.” “The violent and random nature of the crimes, (the accused)’s drug use, and his apparent efforts to evade law enforcement make (the accused) unpredictable and dangerous,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Miyake.
The U.S. Attorney’s office alleges in the court documents that Bhogal has changed his appearance since he crossed the border on June 10. When he obtained a Washington State driver’s license in July, he had no beard and apparently wore blue contact lenses. “The evidence indicates that (the accused) fled Canada immediately after murdering the victim, and thereafter abruptly ceased his travel habit to Canada,” the extradition documents allege.
“In Canada, he lied about his name, claiming it was ‘Bob.’ After returning to the United States, he drove two different cars and took steps to relocate from Michigan to Washington State, removing the Pilot SUV from Michigan after Canadian media mentioned a dark SUV’s role in the crime.” According to the court documents, part of the investigation by police involved comparing a Facebook image of the accused with surveillance camera images that were recorded at a TD Canada Trust bank machine in Windsor on June 10.
A lawyer representing Bhogal in the U.S. extradition case had not returned a call from the Star as of publication time.
The evidence indicates that (the accused) fled Canada immediately after murdering the victim, and thereafter ceased his travel habit to Canada.