CHICAGO – An Indo-American from suburban Chicago has been charged with murder in the death of his father, according to news reports. He is currently being held on $2 million bail.
Yashesh Desai, 21, of Woodridge, Ill., bludgeoned his father to death in the early hours of Aug. 14, said local authorities. Desai, who had a history of psychiatric problems, allegedly beat his father, Sanjiv Desai, 47, to death with a weed trimmer.
Yashesh’s younger brother, who had called the police, told dispatchers, “My brother just killed my father,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin was quoted as saying by the Chicago Tribune. The Chicago Sun Times added that when police arrived, Yashesh was standing outside the house with blood smeared on his hands and clothes, prosecutors said.
DuPage County Judge John Demling approved a request from Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kappas that Yashesh undergo a psychological examination. Prosecutors said Yashesh had been seeing a psychiatrist and taking drugs usually prescribed for a major depressive disorder.
Berlin was quoted as saying that Yashesh claimed that his father owed him money. But later, in his police interview, according to Berlin, he was irrational in speech, giving nonsensical responses and raving about Godzilla, the Turks, X and Y chromosomes, “as well as the need for 23 million soldiers.”
He also blurted out odd responses during his bail hearing next day, which was held via a video link from the DuPage County Jail.
“When did you last work?” DuPage County Judge John Demling asked Yashesh during his bond hearing.
“The beginning of time, maybe,” replied Yashesh, according to the Sun Times.
Prosecutors said Yashesh had been living at home since he was expelled from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in September, after he had waved a knife at a
student and was arrested for aggravated assault. Yashesh majored in chemical and biomolecular engineering and left the school in summer 2010, the Tribune reported.
