ROSEVILLE, Calif. — A Roseville man convicted for the 2019 deaths of his wife and three children was given three consecutive life sentences Wednesday.
Shankar Hangud pled guilty to the charges against him in September 2021 after initially pleading not guilty. He was given the opportunity to speak in court, but chose not to before receiving his sentence.
Hangud was represented by a public defender, Martin Jones, who spoke about the 55-year-old’s motive.
“He lost scores of jobs and was at the end of his financial rope,” Jones said outside of the Placer County Superior Court room.
“He started with his wife, he convinced her to commit suicide on October 7th,” Chief Assistant District Attorney David Tellman said. “On October 8th, he convinced his 16- year-old daughter to hang herself and he in fact helped her hang herself and then on the following day, on the 9th, he helped his 13-year-old son do the same thing.”
On the 13th, Hangud strangled his 21-year old son with a rope.
Hangud was supposed to kill himself, telling his family he would meet them in the afterlife. He instead turned himself in on Oct. 14, 2019, at Mount Shasta police station. They got in contact with Roseville police, who took over the investigation.
"It’s the ultimate act of cowardly,” Tellman said. “Because the children followed his advice and believed that he’d kill himself at the end of this.”
Jones said Hangud’s actions show his remorse.
“After doing what he did he wanted to be punished for it and he voluntarily pleaded guilty,” Jones said.
Tellman said the family was isolated from the community, having moved to 19 cities over the previous 14 years.
“The father had contract work in the tech world and would go from tech job to tech job, so they truly had no community in the United States,” Tellman said.
Four students who went to school with Hangud’s 16-year-old daughter were in the courtroom, but no family members were there, something Judge Jeffrey Penney called heartbreaking.
Multiple law enforcement agencies tried to find family. Though one brother who lived in Japan was found, they weren’t able to establish strong contact with him or find any other family members. Tellman says the efforts continue, for now the remains of Hangud’s wife and children have still not been properly laid to rest.
“It’s so sad that these four lives, these three wonderful young people have lost their lives,” Tellman said, “There’s no one really to carry on their legacy and their thoughts and their lives for them.”
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