Man sentenced to life in prison for murder of Indian engineer at Kansas bar

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Olathe, Kan., man who fatally shot a Garmin engineer from India and wounded two other men last year inside a crowded bar was sentenced Friday to life in prison.

Adam W. Purinton was sentenced in Johnson County District Court, where he pleaded guilty in March to a charge of first-degree murder for killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

Purinton, 52, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting Alok Madasani, a co-worker of Kuchibhotla, and Ian Grillot, who had come to the aid of the other two men.

Under terms of the plea agreement in the case, District Judge Charles Droege sentenced Purinton to the maximum sentence on each of the three charges, and ordered them to run consecutively.

Purinton will not be eligible for parole for 930 months — or 77.5 years — and he acknowledged in court documents that the sentence “will ensure I die in prison.”

In February 2017, Purinton verbally harassed Kuchibhotla and Madasani at Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe and was ordered out of the business by employees.

He returned a short time later and unleashed a fusillade of 9 mm bullets that killed Kuchibhotla.

None of the victims or their family members attended the sentencing Friday.

But Assistant District Attorney Aubrey Sample read a statement by Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Kuchibhotla:

“He was only enjoying a glass of beer with his friend,” she said. “I wish you had the ability to see beyond my husband’s skin color and the beautiful and kindhearted person underneath it.”