A Delaware County man will spend decades in state prison for killing his wife and mother
Iqbal Singh pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sparing him from a potential first-degree murder conviction and the mandatory life sentence that comes with it.
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A Newtown Township, Delaware County, man who killed his wife and mother in 2020 has been sentenced to 23 to 60 years in state prison, prosecutors said Monday.
Iqbal Singh, 66, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and aggravated assault during a hearing Thursday before Delaware County Court Judge George Green.
The plea, negotiated with prosecutors, spared Singh from a potential conviction for first-degree murder and the mandatory life sentence that comes with it. First Assistant District Attorney Tanner Rouse said prosecutors made that deal — which is more generous than they would normally offer — at the request of Singh’s children, who hoped to be able to see him again one day, outside of a jail cell.
“The family impressed upon us that the loss of their father, while understandable, only made them victims all over again,” Rouse said Monday. “They were wonderful, respectful people, and we felt this offer would grant them some peace while also upholding our obligation to public safety.”
Singh’s attorney, Pierre Latour III, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
» READ MORE: From 2020: Delaware County man is charged with murder after stabbing his wife and mother
During the sentencing hearing, Singh said he has bipolar disorder, which he did not receive treatment for until after his arrest in the deaths of his wife, Jaspal Kaur, and his mother, Nasib Kaur. Singh told Green on Thursday that he would not have killed the women if he had been well.
Singh called police in August 2020 to report the murders, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
At his home on Rockwood Road, officers found Singh covered in blood and suffering from self-inflicted stab wounds and took him to a nearby hospital, the affidavit said.
In a room on the home’s first floor Nasib Kaur was lying unresponsive, with her throat slit. Jaspal Kaur was found on the second floor, similarly wounded. Both women were pronounced dead at the scene, the affidavit said.
Singh’s son and daughter told police they had tried to call him and their mother on their cell phones early that morning, but received no answer, the affidavit said. When they called their parents’ home phone, the affidavit said, Singh told them he had killed the two women and told them to “call the police to come get me.”