Three men have been arrested on murder charges in connection with the brutal home-invasion of a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur last month, but many questions remain unanswered about the unusual killing of Raveesh "Ravi" Kumra.
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Sgt. Kerry Harris said in a brief statement that Sacramento police on Saturday afternoon arrested Deangelo Austin, 21, on a murder charge and will take him to Santa Clara County jail. A jail spokesman said he will be arraigned Thursday afternoon.
Oakland police arrested Javier Garcia, 21, in connection with the Kumra case and booked him on a murder charge on Dec. 27. Lucas Anderson, who also goes by the first name "Lukis" - who already was in custody in Santa Clara County jail on an unrelated burglary charge - was arrested Dec. 26 with Kumra's murder and arraigned the following day. He also violated terms of his probation, court records indicate.
Police chief Scott Seaman said in a weekend email that the department is "continuing to investigate whether anyone else was involved."
No other details were released by police. That left much still unknown about the high-profile killing of Kumra, 66, who, along with his ex-wife, Harinder "Rani" Kumra, were tied up and beaten about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 30.
Kumra died at the scene, though police have never disclosed how. He was Monte Sereno's first homicide in 40 years.
Rani Kumra, who her family said was reconciling with her ex- husband, told police that "three or four" suspects had entered their sprawling Monte Sereno complex on Withey Road and ended up killing her husband, while she was able to escape. She had provided a sketch of one suspect, described as a skinny Latino man in his 20s.
These three arrests follow on the heels of a Dec. 19 arrest of Raven Chanel Dixon, 22, of Alameda. Her arrest also raises questions. She was charged with prostitution, furnishing a controlled substance being an "accessory after the fact" in connection to Kumra's death. She also was charged with a gang-enhancement, which Santa Clara County prosecutors declined to discuss. The documents in her case have been sealed.
Dixon's bail was set at $1 million and she is still in custody at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas. Her attorney, John Ambrosio, has said he still has no idea why his client was charged with being an accessory to a murder, and he has seen no evidence to connect her to Kumra's death. On Saturday night, Ambrosio told NBC Bay Area that he had no idea who the trio of men were and hoped that their arrests would lead to the release of his client.
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Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police have been especially tight-lipped about the case, which they described Saturday as "active and ongoing."
The family did not respond for comment.
Kumra has been described by his family as a quiet angel investor who owned Western Cellular Management, but was perhaps best known for owning the Mountain Winery in the 1990s.
Kumra's family has not wanted to speak publicly, but has issued a previous statement through email. In that email, Bharat Kumra, described his brother as a man who "worked very hard and invested successfully over the years." He stated that his brother's wealth has been "overstated and inaccurate."
"While he experienced success during his life, at the time of Ravi's passing he was weathering financial hardship," his brother wrote. "He was a generous man and went out of his way to help anyone he met, even when he had little."
Kumra had a minor criminal past in Santa Clara County - he had a handful of misdemeanors and one felony all charged in the 1990s, court records indicate. He was arrested in connection with a felony DUI in 1995, along with a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a security guard at the Mountain Winery and making a threatening phone call to the then-executive director of the Villa Montalvo, an arts foundation, both in 1998.
According to the family obituary, Kumra was born in Kartharpur, India and emigrated to the United States in 1970 after earning a degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He eventually settled in the Bay Area, and his family said he was one of the first Indian-born entrepreneurs in the wireless industry.
In addition to his ex-wife, Kumra is survived by his daughters, Raina and Anisha; his brothers Bharat Kumra and Rajesh Kumra; his sister Renu Duggal, and his father Ram Kishan Kumra.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Sgt. Mike D'Antonio of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department at 408-827-3219. Contact police communications at 408-354-6843 during non-business hours.
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-432-4758 or lisa.fernandez@nbcuni.com.
