Dayton man faces 30 years if convicted of charges that he murdered his wife by running her over in a parking lot with a van.
By: Paul Koepp
The jury in the murder trial of a Kendall Park man accused of running down his wife with the couple’s minivan in 2004 ended its third day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict.
Deliberations were set to resume today (Thursday) in state Superior Court in New Brunswick.
Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch argued during the monthlong trial that Samander Dabas, 40, struck his 20-year-old wife, Renu Dabas, with the couple’s 1999 Mercury Villager in the parking lot of the South Brunswick Square Mall on the night of Aug, 24, 2004, following a dispute.
Mr. Dabas is charged with first-degree murder, as well as leaving the scene of a fatal accident. He faces a minimum of 30 years in prison without parole if convicted. He could be convicted of murder, aggravated manslaughter or vehicular homicide, according to Mr. Sewitch, who has said he will not seek the death penalty in the case.
Mr. Sewitch said an accumulation of circumstantial evidence, including tire marks, a vehicle fluid trail and blood spots, proved that Mr. Dabas killed his wife. Mr. Dabas, who had a blood alcohol level of .209, more than twice the state limit for a driver, first drove into a tree in the parking lot shortly after 9 p.m., causing the vehicle’s airbags to deploy, and then ordered his wife to get back in the car, according to the prosecutor.
When she refused, Mr. Dabas ran her down at 20 to 25 mph, throwing her headfirst into a pillar in front of the Belle Jewelry store, the prosecutor said.
Mr. Dabas’ attorneys, Tim Dey and Richard Kress, countered by arguing that police and investigators from the county prosecutor’s office had violated their client’s Miranda rights and asked him leading questions to obtain a confession.
They also challenged the prosecution’s version of the crime scene, saying that Ms. Dabas could have suffered head injuries from the deployment of the airbag and a subsequent fall.
Mr. Dabas was originally charged with reckless driving, driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault, but the charges were upgraded after his wife died of head injuries four days later, Aug. 28, at University Medical Center at Princeton.
Ms. Dabas had arrived in the United States only three or four weeks before the incident, about a year after the couple’s arranged marriage in India. She spoke no English and had no family in the country, Mr. Sewitch said.

