Roshan Dantis, 30, claimed the gunman ordered him to clean Khusbu Shah´s flat and remove a blue bag that was later found to hold some of her body parts. He told the court he believed he had been "framed".
The remains of Shah, 23, were found in undergrowth in the Dennistoun area of Glasgow, in June of last year. Her head and hands, which were found nearby, had been removed. Dantis, from India, denies murdering Shah and attempting to extort £120,000 and a television from her husband.
Dantis, who is studying at the University of Strathclyde, said he had let a man into his flat on the morning of June 1, thinking he had come to read the gas meter. The man then took out a gun and pointed it at him. "It is not something I´d ever imagined happening to me. I was scared," Dantis told the court.
Dantis said the "English-Asian" man opened his bag and brought out photographs of him and his wife. "He asked me to stay quiet and listen to him," he said. "He told me he had planned to do something that had not worked out as planned and he wanted me to do something for him."
Dantis said the man instructed him to go to his classmate Nagendra Shah´s house and clean it. The man also told him to leave a blue holdall he would find in the flat outside, so it could be collected. "He said not to mention this to anyone or he would harm me and my wife," Dantis said.
Donald Findlay, QC, defending, asked Dantis why he did not call the police when the man left. "I was scared for my life at that point," he replied. "I wanted to do what would save me."
Dantis said that when he arrived at Shah´s flat the door was ajar and nobody was in. He could see there had been a "disturbance", he said, because there were things lying all over the floor. He told the court he bagged some items before finding the blue bag mentioned by the gunman in the bathtub, where there was also some blood. The bag "appeared heavy", he said, but he did look not at its contents.
Findlay suggested that he had helped to clean the crime scene and removed "the headless and handless corpse" of his friend´s wife.
Dantis sobbed as he replied: "I did not know at that time what I was doing. This is something that should not have happened. The fact that I did not go to the police and not tell them, just feels so wrong."
Dantis said that two days after he had been at the couple´s flat the gunman approached him at university and threatened him again.
Findlay later asked him if he thought he had been framed for Shah´s murder. "I believe so," replied Dantis. Looking over to Shah, who was sitting in the public gallery, Findlay urged Dantis to "put an end to it" if he was not telling the truth. "I did not murder Khusbu Shah," said Dantis. "That is the truth."
While giving his evidence, Dantis also denied claims that he was behind text messages sent to Mr Shah demanding a ransom after his wife had disappeared. He said he asked his classmate for a copy of the text because it had implied he was involved and because he wanted Mr Shah to go to the police.
He additionally told the court he had "no financial worries", other than minor credit card bills of less than £1,000. However, he admitted that he knew Mr Shah planned to spend £180,000 on buying a restaurant.
When questioned by prosecutor Dorothy Bain, QC, Dantis agreed that Mrs Shah was the victim of a "brutal and violent attack". Bain asked him if he was the "monster" who killed her. "No, ma´am," he replied.
The trial, before Lord Pentland, continues.
Courtesy: www.timesonline.co.uk
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