Bellevue: Indian-Origin Amazon Engineer Charged in Wife's Death
Avinash Narne, a 30-year-old Telugu software engineer employed in the Bellevue area, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 27-year-old wife, Sabbineni Raajitha, nearly eight months after she was found unresponsive in the locked bathroom of their downtown Bellevue apartment. Investigators allege Narne strangled his wife, staged the scene to suggest she had died of natural causes, and took steps to conceal evidence. He is being held at the King County Jail on $5 million bail as prosecutors pursue the first-degree murder charge filed in July 2026.
Engineer Arrested Eight Months After Wife Found Dead in Apartment
Avinash Narne, a 30-year-old Telugu software engineer, was arrested by Bellevue Police on June 27, 2026, on charges of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Sabbineni Rajitha, who was 27. Prosecutors filed the murder charge on July 1. Narne is being held at the King County Jail on bail set at $5 million, equivalent to approximately Rs 47 crore. Rajitha was found unresponsive inside the locked bathroom of the couple's apartment at Woodland Commons in downtown Bellevue on October 27, 2025. Despite the efforts of emergency responders who attended the scene, she was declared dead at the apartment. According to investigators, Narne initially told police his wife had been feeling unwell and suggested she may have consumed cough syrup before collapsing. The King County medical examiner's office, however, ruled that Rajitha's death was a homicide and that she died from asphyxia due to strangulation. Investigators also alleged that Narne took steps to destroy or conceal evidence following his wife's death. The investigation ran for nearly eight months before Bellevue Police made the arrest, and the case drew significant attention in Telangana and among the Telugu community in the United States given the circumstances of the alleged crime and the lengthy period before charges were laid. [6]
Bitter Smoothie, Deleted Chats, and a Secret Girlfriend: The Evidence Trail
LawBeat reported that investigators built the case against Avinash Narne around a combination of physical evidence and digital findings that collectively contradicted the account he gave police after his wife's death. According to the LawBeat report, investigators alleged that Narne strangled his wife, Raajitha Sabbineni, and then staged the scene to make her death appear to be a suicide. The report noted that the case involves what investigators described as a bitter smoothie that was given to the victim prior to her death, deleted chat messages and other communications that Narne was alleged to have removed, and calls and contact with a girlfriend whose existence Narne had kept concealed. Narne was born in Telangana and was working as a software engineer in the United States at the time of the death. The LawBeat account indicated that the initial framing of the death as a possible suicide was central to Narne's explanation to police, but forensic analysis and the medical examiner's conclusion that death resulted from strangulation directly undermined that account. The combination of physical evidence, digital records showing deleted communications, and evidence of a hidden relationship formed the core of the prosecution's case as described in court filings. [3]
Digital Evidence and Phone Records Central to Police Case
Brut, an international media outlet covering the case, reported that Indian software engineer Avinash Narne was arrested in the United States after police alleged he killed his wife, Raajitha Sabbineni. According to the Brut account, police said that digital evidence, phone records, and a secret relationship that Narne had maintained became central to the investigation that ultimately led to his arrest. The Brut report noted that police alleged Narne had sent a photograph of his wife to his girlfriend, an act that investigators treated as significant evidence of his conduct following her death. Raajitha Sabbineni was identified as the victim in the case. The report highlighted the role played by digital communications in the investigation, noting that phone records were a key component of the evidentiary case assembled by Bellevue Police over the months between Rajitha's death in October 2025 and Narne's arrest in June 2026. The case attracted substantial coverage from South Asian and international media given the gravity of the allegations against Narne and the nature of the evidence that investigators said pointed to his involvement in his wife's death. [1]
Sources: [6] The News Minute · [3] LawBeat · [1] Brut