Man who fled to India convicted in family killing

PONTIAC, Michigan (AP) — A computer scientist who fled to his native India after the 2008 killings of his wife and two children in their U.S. home was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder.

A jury returned the verdict in the case of Lakshminivasa Nerusu, 46, who was arrested in February 2013.

According to prosecutors, Nerusu stabbed his wife 59 times, then waited several hours for his children to arrive home from school. He slit the throat of his daughter after she got off a school bus and minutes later slashed his son's throat, prosecutors said.

Jayalakshmi Nerusu, 37, the couple's 14-year-old daughter Tejasvi and their 12-year-old son Siva were killed Oct. 13, 2008. Police found their bodies two weeks later.

Lakshminivasa Nerusu testified during the trial that he "blacked out" and didn't remember what happened the day of the killings and must have been insane. Defense lawyer Lawrence Kaluzny said Nerusu was insane at the time of the killings.

Under Michigan law, Nerusu will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. His sentencing is July 3.

Authorities said domestic problems preceded the deaths.

Nerusu, an unemployed software programmer, fled to India the day after the killings but was arrested and extradited in 2013.