A 28-year-old Indian-origin man from Schaumburg, Illinois, has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly beating his 67-year-old father to death with a sledgehammer in their family home over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Abhijit Patel is accused of killing his father, Anupam Patel, despite an active protective order barring him from contact with the victim, according to Cook County prosecutors and US media reports.
The active protection order, which expires in 2027, was put in place because of the son’s previous threats, although his parents allowed him to stay at home.
Son said he ‘took care of dad’
The incident took place on November 29. Court documents reveal that the victim’s wife returned home around 10:30 a.m. after being unable to reach her husband Anupam Patel or her son by phone. Her concerns escalated when her husband, who was out of work due to diabetes and was being monitored by a connected glucose device, failed to make his routine 8 a.m. phone call about his blood sugar, which she observed was dropping, Patch news reported.
Upon arriving home, the wife noticed that the garage door was unusually open. She met her son Abhijit Patel, who allegedly told her he had “taken care of dad” and advised her to “go check on him”.
Shortly before 11 a.m., she found Anupam Patel unresponsive and covered in blood in his bedroom. Paramedics arrived and pronounced the father dead at the scene. Authorities found a sledgehammer nearby. An autopsy later confirmed that the victim died from at least two blunt force blows to the head, resulting in a fractured skull and a broken nose.
Confessions and delusional claims
Abhijit Patel surrendered immediately after the police arrived. During questioning, the suspect admitted to bringing a sledgehammer into his father’s room while he was awake and striking him several times before leaving the weapon nearby.
Patel claimed his motive was “religious duty” to kill his father for alleged molestation he experienced as a child. But prosecutors noted that Patel, who has a history of being diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been hospitalized for treatment in the past, told police that his doctors believed the claims against his father were “false.”
Abhijit Patel is currently being held without bail and has been banned from contacting his mother. His next court appearance in the case is scheduled for Dec. 19.
