Indian admits burning sons to death, gets life sentence

Kaushik Patel, 37, from Glendale Heights entered the guilty plea in DuPage County Circuit Court. In return for his plea, Patel would not be sentenced to death but would remain behind bars for life, without possibility of parole.

Patel replied “Yes” when Judge Kathryn Creswell told him, “You will die in prison, do you understand that?” DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett agreed not to seek the death penalty after talks with defence attorneys.

Patel said little during the sentencing hearing, except to acknowledge that he was aware of the punishment being imposed. He lowered his head and wept softly during the hearing as prosecutors recounted the murder of his sons.

Patel faced first degree murder charges for burning his two sons — Vishv, 7, and Om, 4, on November 18, 2007.

Patel had lured his two young sons into the bathroom of their home where he then doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. Later, Patel drove the boys to a relative’s house where the relative alerted authorities. A couple of months later, the boys succumbed to their injuries.

Patel, who was also injured in the attack but has since recovered, had claimed that he was attempting suicide when the boys ran into the room and accidentally were splashed with gasoline and caught on fire.

The boys’ mother Nisha Patel had told the court at a pre-trial hearing earlier that while battling for life in a hospital, Vishv had described to her in detail how Patel had set them on fire.