Man Who Killed Wife, 3 Children Because He Could Not Provide For Them Financially Gets Life Sentence

A Northern California man who allegedly murdered his own wife and three children as he could no longer adequately provide for them financially has been sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

Shankar Hangud, 55, an Indian-national and IT professional, received three consecutive life sentences without parole after he pleaded guilty to killing his wife and three children over several days at his Roseville apartment in California after he found himself in financial ruin, NBC News reported.

On Oct. 14, 2019, Hangud reportedly turned himself in to the Mount Shasta Police Department, more than 200 miles from his home, with the body of his 20-year-old son Varun Shankar still in his vehicle parked outside.

He then confessed to four murders and told them that he had murdered his wife, Jyothi Shankar, 46; his daughter, Gauri Hangud, 16; and his youngest son Nischal Hangud, 13, on Oct. 7 in their Roseville apartment at the Woodcreek West complex on Junction Boulevard.

After his confession, officers rushed to Hangud's apartment in Roseville, northeast of Sacramento, and recovered the bodies of the three other victims, India Today reported.

After Hangud was taken into custody in 2019, he initially pleaded not guilty to the four murders. However, he finally changed his plea last month and admitted guilty to three counts of first-degree murder for his three children and one count of deliberately aiding his wife in committing suicide.

Placer County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Penney sentenced Hangud to three life terms in prison and called the incident a “horrific crime.”

The district attorney’s office stated that Hangud had no possibility of parole because he had killed more than one person.

Hangud reportedly committed the crime as he found himself depressed after losing his IT job and was under a lot of financial pressure, according to the prosecutors. In addition to unemployment, Hangud was also with his marriage that was falling apart.

Hangud's LinkedIn profile stated that he was a data specialist and that he had worked for several companies in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Other than a speeding ticket that he received in 2016, Hangud did not have a criminal history and no prior calls for service were made to his residence.