The sentencing of Varmall is set for June 9
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Sacramento Superior Judge Michael Bowman on Friday found 50-year-old jilted lover Timothy Varmall guilty in first-degree murder of Indian American Smurti Patel.
The judge has also found that Varmall was personally armed and committed the murder by premeditatedly, Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a news media statement.
According to the Attorney’s office, Varmall followed Patel between September 2014 and February 2015. He planned “coincidental†run-ins with her to make her think favorably of him. His purpose during those months was to find the best opportunity to kill her.
On February 9, 2015, Varmall stalked Patel and followed her onto a light rail train. As they exited, Patel spotted Varmall and agreed to walk with him. As they walked across the street to a restaurant, he stabbed her and fled from the area. Later, the medics were called to the scene and Patel died of her wounds after four days.
The Court also found that Varmall has a history for two prior strike convictions and this makes him come under the three-strike law that significantly increases the prison sentence. In 1994, Varmall was convicted of sexual penetration with a foreign object and forced oral copulation.
The sentencing of Varmall is set for June 9, 2017, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.