UPDATE: 3 p.m.
The officer who along with his police dog who located Tejwant Danjou following Rama Guaravarapu’s death described him as having a ‘cold, thousand-mile stare’.
Cpl. Frank Roberts and RCMP dog Dex followed a track of blood droplets to a dumpster in the parking lot of a Tim Hortons, in West Kelowna.
According to Roberts, Dex was jumping and showing he wanted to get into the dumpster.
Roberts looked in the dumpster, seeing only cardboard. He shouted at the dumpster making his presence known to no response.
He then lifted Dex into the dumpster and quickly heard somebody scream.
Roberts could then see somebody in the dumpster, who he identified as Danjou in court, pointing to the prisoners’ box.
Service dog Dex engaged the suspect, who according to Roberts yelled, ‘get your dog off of me’.
Danjou attempted to pull the dog off of himself with his right hand, Roberts testified. Roberts grabbed Danjou’s left hand, attempting to pull him out of the dumpster.
Upon several requests telling Danjou to remove his hands from the dog — to which he did not comply — Cpl. Roberts drew his weapon and again asked him to let go of the dog.
Danjou complied and was pulled out by two RCMP constables on the scene.
Roberts testified Danjou was covered in blood.
He was subsequently arrested at the scene.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
A Surrey man accused of murdering a woman in West Kelowna in 2018 has been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea that shocked the court on Tuesday.
Tejwant Danjou appeared in BC Supreme Court on Friday, where his application to have his impromptu plea in the second-degree murder of Rama Guaravarapu removed was accepted by the court.
The trial will begin as soon as possible.
Danjou was arrested on July 22, 2018, after police were called to the Best Western hotel in the 3400-block of Carrington Road following a report of a woman in need of assistance.
Police said the woman, later identified as Gauravarapu, died that night.
Danjou, who was 69 years old at the time, was charged with killing her.
According to the RCMP, the two were known to each other and a code used on Danjou’s court file is reserved for cases where the victim and accused are in, or were previously in, a personal or intimate relationship.
Gauravarapu was a financial planner at a Surrey Royal Bank branch for 20 years.
Danjou was a real estate agent and after he was charged his real estate licence was suspended by the Real Estate Council of British Columbia.
READ MORE: Surrey man charged with murder in West Kelowna tries to change guilty plea
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