Kuchibhotla killer Purinton sentenced to 78 years’ jail

HYDERABAD: Adam W Purinton, the US Navy veteran who shot dead software engineer from Hyderabad Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas, US, last year, was awarded a life sentence in jail. Purinton was awarded 50 years hard labour on Count 1, which is premeditated first degree murder.

In the two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder for bid on the lives of the two others who were at the bar, Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot, he was given 165 months (nearly 14 years) on each count. That would be nearly 28 years. Since all the sentences will run consecutively, the 52-yearold convict will have to spend nearly 78 years in jail.

While pronouncing the sentence, Johnson County district judge J Charles Droege said that there was no possibility of parole for the 50 years awarded under Count 1. This effectively means that Purinton will not be able to come out of jail until he is 102 years old. The federal charges against him, accusing him of hate crime, are also pending which will be pursued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

It may be mentioned here that 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both belonging to Hyderabad, were working for Gramin at Olathe, Kansas, and had gone to Austin’s Bar and Grill where the shooting incident took place on February 22, 2017.

While Kuchibhotla was shot dead by Purinton, Madasani and US national Ian Grillot, were injured in the shooting incident. Both Madasani and Grillot recovered after hospitalisation.

The incident created a furore not just in India and the US but across the world on the safety of migrants in the US as Purinton made racial slurs before shooting Kuchibhotla, leading the FBI to probe the murder.

According to the State of Kanas, 10 ^th Judicial District, Office of District Attorney, Purinton had pleaded guilty in the charges of premeditated first degree murder, and two counts of attempted first degree murder. His attorney had also agreed to a maximum sentence on each count and to any sentence that may be imposed in Purinton’s federal case.