A suspected killer was caught on CCTV rushing out to buy heavy duty cleaning products after allegedly stabbing his ex-lover to death in the bathroom of a luxury Sydney hotel.
Harshwardhan Narde, 34, a dentist, is accused of killing his former lover Preethi Reddy, 32, earlier this month, then stuffing her body into a suitcase and dumping it in the boot of her car.
Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Narde was captured on CCTV coming back to the Swissotel Sydney in the CBD on the afternoon of March 4, carrying bags of cleaning products including bleach, gloves and absorbent paper towel.
Narde is alleged to have killed Dr Reddy in the hotel en suite bathroom, then left her body there while he went out to buy products to conceal his crime.
CCTV shows he then went to Myer, next door to his hotel, to purchase a large suitcase to hide her body in.
Narde did such a thorough job of cleaning the bathroom that staff did not suspect anything untoward, until police asked to be allowed in to investigate.
Preethi Reddy, 32, was allegedly stabbed to death by her ex-lover Dr Harshwardhan Narde on March 4
Forensic officers using blood detecting equipment then uncovered what had gone on in the bathroom.
Chillingly, Narde asked for help from a hotel porter to lift the suitcase into the boot of a car, telling the staff member it was heavy from all the ‘shopping’ he had purchased.
He then allegedly dumped Dr Reddy’s car with her body inside it in a street in Sydney’s east, and drove home to Tamworth, where he later killed himself by driving into the path of an oncoming truck.
A police spokeswoman said a brief of evidence about Dr Reddy’s death would be prepared for the Coroner, and no further comment would be given.
Dr Reddy was first reported missing on Monday March 5 when she failed to return home to her parent’s house at Penrith.
Harshwardhan Narde, 34, was captured on CCTV buying cleaning products to wash the crime scene inside his hotel room
Dr Narde and Dr Reddy (pictured together) had dated for years, but had split up at the time of Dr Reddy’s murder
Dr Reddy spoke on the phone with her family at 11.06am on Sunday and she ‘gave no indication anything was wrong’ and she promised to be home in a few hours after having a late breakfast
Dr Reddy and Narde attended the same dental conference in St Leonards on Friday and Saturday, and had dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant together on Saturday night.
The pair had previously been in a long-term relationship, but it had ended about two years ago, and Dr Reddy was dating a man in Melbourne.
Friends believe Dr Reddy agreed to have dinner with Narde to gently ‘tell him it was over once and for all and he needed to move on’.
Dr Reddy was last seen alive buying two bottles of water from a McDonald’s restaurant in the city just before 2am on Sunday. She was alone at the time.
Investigators believe from there, she went to Narde’s hotel room.
She was last seen on CCTV waiting in line at McDonald’s in The Strand Arcade, off George Street, about 2.15am on Sunday (pictured)
Dr Reddy’s family are now left wondering what happened in the last moments of her life after she called them from the hotel room where she was then killed
Dr Reddy was last seen at McDonald’s in the CBD on Sunday, she was found dead on Tuesday night in Kingsford. Her accused killer died on the Monday night when he drove into the path of a truck near Tamworth and died instantly
Dr Reddy called her family at 11.06am on Sunday promising to be home in a few hours, but was never heard from again.
‘How are you dad? I’m just charging my phone, then I’m going to get some breakfast and come home,’ she told her father.
She then called her new boyfriend and told him the same thing, police said.
Less than three hours later, at 1.47pm, Dr Reddy’s phone went dead and her family believes she was murdered during that time.
Dr Reddy’s car was found about 9.30pm on Tuesday after a two-day search starting from when Dr Reddy’s family reported her missing on Sunday night.
Narde returned to Tamworth, 400km northwest of Sydney, and was interviewed by local police on Monday morning.
He claimed he knew nothing of her whereabouts.
About 10pm that night, police said Narde deliberately drove his BMW into the path of an oncoming truck and was killed instantly. The 49-year-old truck driver survived.
More than a hundred mourners, mostly from Sydney’s Indian community, packed a hall at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury, western Sydney, on March 9 for Dr Reddy’s funeral.
Dr Reddy’s body was stuffed into a suitcase and dumped it in the boot of her car, which was dumped in a suburban street
Police said Dr Reddy turned up at Narde’s hotel about 2am on Sunday morning. CCTV shows her arriving there
At the time, Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate said telling Dr Reddy’s parents she was dead was the ‘toughest thing you can ever do’.
‘I have goosebumps talking about it. As a parent, the worst thing we can do is bury our kids. It’s a space none of us want to be in,’ he told reporters on Wednesday.
Ms Reddy’s new boyfriend was also getting support from friends of the couple.
‘I am doing as best as I can and more importantly worried about you all,’ he told friends on Thursday morning.
‘I know this has affected you and I need you more than ever to be strong for me and help me get through such a difficult time.
‘We will get through this. Preethi would have wanted for me to always be happy and I will be back to my cheerful cheeky self with your support.’
Dr Reddy’s sister Nithya issued a moving statement on behalf of her family.
‘Words cannot capture the pain we are feeling with the passing of my beautiful big sister,’ she said.
‘Preethi was a bright light, loveable, kind and protective of all whom were lucky enough to have been loved and cared for by her.
‘While we now know that Preethi is no longer with us, the certainty of her movements on Saturday night and Sunday morning are not yet fully known, and we will stay in touch with detectives as they work it all out.’
Nithya said her family ‘would never be the same without Preethi in our lives’.
More than a hundred mourners packed a hall at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury, western Sydney, for Dr Reddy’s funeral
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