9 hours ago
Last Updated:May 21, 2025, 23:49 IST
Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, 35, is wanted for allegedly killing his wife by striking her multiple times with a 'large knife' at a donut shop on April 12, 2015.
Bhadreshkumar Patel, 35, killed his wife Palak on April 12, 2015. (Anne Arundel County Police Department)
An Indian man from Gujarat, who was accused of killing his wife in Maryland, United States, in 2015, still remains on the run and has made his way to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ten most-wanted fugitive list.
Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, 35, is wanted for allegedly killing his wife by striking her multiple times with an object while they were both working at a donut shop on April 12, 2015. The FBI has offered a reward of $250,000 for information leading to Patel’s arrest.
Patel allegedly stabbed his wife Palak Patel, who was 21 at the time, multiple times in a back room of the donut shop in Hanover, Maryland with a “large kitchen style knife". After fleeing from the shop, he walked across the street to the apartment he shared with his wife, retrieved a few items and some cash, and then hailed a taxi. He was last seen in Newark, New Jersey.
On the next day of the incident, a local arrest warrant was issued in the District Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County. Patel was charged with first degree murder, second degree murder, first degree assault, second degree assault, and dangerous weapon with intent to injure.
A federal arrest warrant was issued in the United States District Court, District of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, on April 20, 2015, after Patel was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to the FBI notice.
Why Did Patel Kill His Wife?
As per investigators, Palak Patel wanted to return to India while their visas had expired the month before, and her husband was against the idea. Investigators also believed that Bhadreshkumar Patel had distant relatives in the US or that he could have fled to Canada to return to India.
Police Chief Amal E Awad said Palak Patel worked seven days a week to support her life in America and her family in India. Palak was pursuing a master’s degree in commerce, her true passion was children and she aspired to become a teacher, Awad said.
“As long as Bhadreshkumar Patel remains free, continuing to elude law enforcement, no intimate partner involved with this evil degenerate will be safe," she was quoted as saying by The Baltimore Banner. “Our focus is not only on locating Palak’s killer but also on understanding the circumstances that led to her tragic murder."
FBI Special Agent Jonathan D. Shaffer wrote in an April 20, 2015, affidavit that Bhadreshkumar had “struck" his wife with “a large kitchen-style knife across the face, causing massive trauma that led to her death. The accused took his Indian passport from their residence before fleeing.
The FBI didn’t add Bhadreshkumar Patel to its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list until 2017. “The extremely violent nature of the crimes allegedly committed by Bhadreshkumar Patel earned him a place on the FBI’s Top Ten List," said FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Gordon B Johnson in a statement in 2017.
Location :Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
First Published:News world Indian Man On The Run After Killing Wife 10 Years Ago Still On FBI's Most-Wanted List
