A man facing murder charges for allegedly killing four relatives took their lives over the span of a week across two Northern California counties, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Shankar Hangud, 53, killed two relatives Oct. 7 and a third one the next day in the city of Roseville, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors in Placer County.
The fourth killing happened Sunday about 260 miles to the north in Siskiyou County, according to investigators. On Monday Hangud drove to a police station in Mount Shasta with the body of a man in his car, prosecutors said. They said he confessed to the killings and was arrested.
Hangud’s arraignment will resume Oct. 25.
At a hearing Wednesday, Hangud initially sought to represent himself and repeatedly refused a lawyer before accepting an attorney with the Public Defender’s Office to represent him.
Martin Jones, his appointed attorney, said Wednesday that it was too early for him to comment.
The bodies of two children and an adult were found at Hangud’s Roseville apartment, Capt. Josh Simon said Tuesday. Officials were working to identify the victims. An autopsy will determine how they died.
Detectives have interviewed Hangud, but they have not determined a motive, Simon said.
Tax records showed that Hangud faced an IRS tax lien of $178,000. Hangud’s only prior interaction with law enforcement in Placer County was for speeding in 2016, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Hangud’s LinkedIn profile shows he is a data specialist and had worked for several companies in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.