Mainak Sarkar, the former University of California, Los Angeles, graduate student who shot dead a professor at the school then killed himself started his killing spree by murdering his estranged wife at her Minnesota home.
Police and the victim’s sister said Sarkar’s first victim was 31-year-old Ashley Hasti, a medical school student with a love of acting and stand-up comedy, her sister. Ashley’s sister Alex Hasti said on Facebook on Friday that her sister used to love Sarkar.
Sarkar shot dead 39-year-old engineering professor William Klug and intended to kill a second professor. The Indian native was convinced that Klug had stolen software he had developed, said the police, adding that Sarkar’s claim was baseless.
The police were yet to find the motive behind Sarkar’s decision to kill Hasti in the home they had shared in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away from Los Angeles.
The police went to check on Hasti after finding a note at the Los Angeles crime scene written by Sarkar, 38, asking authorities to check on his cat at his home in St. Paul.
The bizarre hint led to the discovery of a “kill list” that included Klug, Hasti and the second professor, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters on Thursday.
Alex Hasti also did not offer any indication of what might have provoked Sarkar. “My sister, Ashley Hasti, was the smartest, coolest, and funniest person I knew. She could do anything she dreamed of,” the sister said. “Unfortunately, she won’t get to see that last dream come true as her life was cut short much too soon by her estranged husband. I’m still in a state of shock right now.”