Indian American student’s murder suspect deemed fit for trial

A Purdue University student accused of fatally stabbing his Indian American roommate Varun Manish Chheda in their dorm room last October has been deemed fit to stand trial, according to media reports.

Suspect Ji Min Sha had been ruled incompetent to stand trial in April.

In an order filed Tuesday, Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Sean M. Persin said the superintendent of the Logansport State Hospital has determined Sha “has attained the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in the preparation of his defense.”

Persin ordered the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office to transport Sha and his belongings back to the Tippecanoe County Jail “at the earliest convenience.”

READ: Indian American student at Purdue killed in university dorm (October 6, 2022)

A competency report on Shaw was filed Monday, court records show. The Tippecanoe County Clerk’s Office said that report is confidential, according to WRTV.

Sha is scheduled to appear in Persin’s court for a status conference on Sep 29.

In April, two physicians found Sha fit the criteria for a schizophrenia diagnosis and recommended he receive 90 days of treatment in the Logansport facility.

Sha is charged with murder in the Oct 5 stabbing death of his roommate, Varun Manish Chheda, 20.

Prosecutors alleged 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 the victim’s body was discovered.

Sha told police he used the knife to kill Chheda, according to according to a probable cause affidavit.

Records show while Sha was in jail, he exhibited “bizarre and withdrawn” behavior and expressed delusional thoughts.

According to court records, Sha had told police after his arrest that “he is extensively involved in international espionage and is a former CIA operative”.

Sha could face between 45 and 65 years in prison if found guilty of murder.