Korean Student Charged With Killing Indian-Origin Roommate In US Found Fit For Trial

A Korean man accused of fatally stabbing his Indian-origin roommate at Purdue University in the US state of Indiana has been found competent to stand trial, according to media reports.

Ji Min Sha, who was charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda, of Indianapolis, in October 2022, was previously found incompetent to stand trial in April by a Tippecanoe County judge.

In his April order, Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Sean M. Persin wrote that Sha has reported hallucinations and has experienced chronic psychosis and delusional thoughts while in jail.

According to a September 12 court filing, doctors at Logansport State Hospital found Sha competent to stand trial after months of treatment, WTHR, a television station in Indianapolis, reported.

Sha "has attained the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of his defence," Logansport State Hospital Superintendent Bethany Schoenradt wrote in a letter to the judge.

The judge has directed the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office to transport Sha back to the county jail.

A status conference in the case has been scheduled for September 29.

Sha and Chheda lived in McCutcheon Hall on Purdue University's West Lafayette campus.

Prosecutors allege that Sha stabbed Chheda several times in the head and neck with a folding knife that officers found on the floor near the chair where Chheda's body was discovered.

Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete said Sha called police early on October 5, 2022, and told them his roommate was dead in their dorm room.

Officers who arrested Sha found him wearing clothes with blood on them, prosecutors have said. An autopsy found that Chheda had died of “multiple sharp-force traumatic injuries.” If convicted, Sha could face 45 to 60 years in prison, WFIU, an Indiana-based public radio station, reported.