by Ashley Heeney
Reporter
Akron -- After a month-long trial and a two-and-a-half year investigation of the 2005 murder of Pinebark Place resident Sejal Patel, her husband and mother-in-law have been sentenced to life in prison.
"The crime rattled the neighborhood and whole community," Twinsburg Police Chief Chris Noga said following the Nov. 28 sentencing. "It's nice to have a resolution -- people can feel safe and secure again."
The body of 28-year-old Sejal was discovered by Twinsburg police the morning of July 2, 2005, in the cargo area of a sports utility vehicle parked at the Chrysler Stamping Plant. The coroner ruled she was strangled to death.
The 12-person jury took about seven hours to find Chetankumar, 33, and Minaxiben Patel, 50, guilty Nov. 20 on three charges each: Aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
"Chetan" was given the chance of parole after 30 years, while "Minaxi" could be paroled after 25 years for aggravated murder. They were each given three years for tampering with evidence and one year for abuse of a corpse, to run concurrently with their life sentences.
Both Patels stood by their innocence Nov. 28 and requested that Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brenda Burham Unruh assign them attorneys so they can appeal their sentences.
"The evidence [presented] was confusing and inconsistent," argued Chetan's attorney John Wheeler, who told Unruh the most appropriate sentence would be life with parole after 20 years.
"[Minaxi] knew nothing of the plan and didn't participate in any way," defense attorney Carolyn Mulligan told Unruh.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi argued prior to the sentencing to Unruh that Minaxi could have prevented the crime and that Chetan treated Sejal and others as "expendable."
"He used them, he used her. He had no money left for divorce," LoPrinzi said. "Apparently, this was the only option."
Chetan and Minaxi are the third and fourth people convicted in Sejal's murder.
Rupal Patel, 33, who testified to being Chetan's mistress, pleaded guilty in 2006 to murder and is serving 15 years to life in prison. Vijay Patel, 37, pleaded guilty in 2006 to aggravated murder and is serving 20 years to life.
Unrelated to Sejal, Chetan or each other, Vijay and Rupal are illegal aliens whose testimony was crucial to Chetan and Minaxi's convictions, prosecutors said.
According to the Nov. 5 testimony of Vijay Patel, Sejal was strangled in the living room of her home the morning of July 1. He alleged Chetan pulled a rope around her neck and Minaxi pulled her feet.
"Chetan tells me to pull the rope. I was crying, but Sejal was already dead, I think," Vijay testified.
Vijay also testified Chetan and Minaxi wrapped Sejal in the blanket and put her body in the back of the SUV, which was parked in their garage.
"Chetan gave $10,000 to Minaxi to give to me," he testified. "First, for payment of my job at Barberton Food Mart, and second, to take the blame for the murder."
Vijay testified that Rupal drove the SUV, with him as a passenger and Sejal's body in the back, to Chrysler, left Vijay there and returned shortly afterward in her own car to pick him up.
He testified that Chetan and Rupal spoke after the killing, and he told Rupal to escape the area with Vijay.
Twinsburg Police Officer Jim Scarl, the lead detective in the case, had Vijay arrested in Pennsylvania and Rupal was arrested in Norton, where Chetan was renting an apartment for her.
Chetan told Unruh that it is unfair that Rupal and Vijay, whom he said he helped police locate, received lower sentences.
"God knows I did not kill her," he said.
But Unruh told Chetan and Minaxi at their Nov. 28 sentencing that Sejal's death was a plot only they could have devised.
"This was a human being," Unruh said of Sejal. "Her life was treated so much less than that."
E-mail: aheeney@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3172