Snake on a Plane

"What if he had decided to commit a suicidal act on the plane? We have seen people set fires in bathrooms on planes, take hostages in desperation by pretending to have a weapon and what have you. The only right thing for Continental to have done is land that plane as soon as possible."

By the accounts of her friends, coworkers, and family, Navi Kaur usually hid the desperation and unhappiness of her life as Raju Grewal's wife.

A sensitive soul whose natural beauty was equaled by her estimable mind, the native of India had been living in the States for years. But she remained close to her family, and to her homeland's cultural norms.

In 2001, she married an Indian man she had known for all of three days, after a meeting arranged by family members.

The ex-husband, who lives in Phoenix, told the Toronto Globe and Mail after the murder that he had known within days after marrying Kaur that her strong-willed, independent personality spelled trouble for the union.

The couple divorced in 2005, with Kaur assuming ownership of the home on East Redwood that later would be the site of her murder. That year, she met Raju Grewal in a meeting apparently arranged by Grewal's sister, who knew Kaur's parents.

Kaur came from a prominent family — her father is a retired Indian Police Service superintendent — and they were eager for her to marry fellow divorcé Grewal.

Dutifully, she did so at a ceremony in India later that year.

But Kaur soon confided to friends that Grewal tried to control her every move once he had slipped the wedding ring on her finger.

For starters, he wanted his new wife to quit her top-drawer job in Scottsdale to be with him in Canada. Though he had been an accountant in India, Grewal had worked in Vancouver for a few years as a truck driver and forklift operator.

But Kaur declined to make the move, a relentless source of humiliation to her new husband. The couple spent little time together, just swapping weekend visits every few months.

A neighbor and close friend of Kaur's named Sravanthi Sankranthi later told Phoenix police that long absences from Grewal did not made Kaur's heart grow fonder.

Shortly before she died, Kaur told Sankranthi that Grewal's incessant phone calls from Canada would make her teeth chatter with stress. She expressed concern about her husband's mental health, saying he was depressed and irrational at times, especially about the state of the strained marriage.

Gina Wilkins, who was Navi Kaur's manager and good friend, later told a detective that Kaur had spoken with Grewal by phone on the night before the murder.

Kaur confided in Wilkins that she had told her husband she wanted a divorce.

Wilkins said Kaur told her that Grewal had responded, "If you want a divorce, tell me in person because you might as well kill me."

Raju Grewal apparently made plans to fly to Phoenix the following day, March 29. Terrified at having to face her husband in person, Kaur expressed her fears to Wilkins a few hours before she was supposed to pick him up at Sky Harbor International Airport late that afternoon.

Wilkins said she implored her friend to seek refuge at a cousin's home in the East Valley, but Kaur said that Grewal would track her down.

Wilkins last spoke to Kaur by cell phone about 5:25 p.m., at which time she offered her own home as sanctuary from Raju Grewal. Kaur thanked her but said she already was on her way to the airport.

Navi Kaur's colleagues immediately became concerned when the usually punctual manager didn't show up for work at 9 the next morning, March 30. Late that morning, Gina Wilkins and another employee drove to Kaur's home in Ahwatukee, several miles away, to check on her welfare.

They got to Redwood Lane a little after noon.

No one answered the front doorbell, so the women walked around the side of the house. Though a locked gate stymied them, they peered in through a kitchen window and saw broken glass, upended furniture and a knife on the floor.

Distressed, they retreated to the front yard, where Kaur's pal and neighbor, Sravanthi Sankranthi, wondered what was up. Sankranthi had a key to the house, and the three women stepped in the front door, calling out loudly for their friend.

When Kaur didn't answer, one of the women called 911, while the other two went to look for her.

Thankfully, the women didn't find Navi Kaur's beaten body. But they did see that the ceiling fan in the master bedroom had been pulled down. They also saw the yellow rope, another knife, and blood — some of it smeared on the tile floor, as if a body had been dragged.

Fearing the worst, the trio decided to wait outside for Phoenix police.

As they waited, Gina Wilkins noticed an airline itinerary with Raju Grewal's name on the ground. It noted Grewal's trip the previous day from Vancouver on U.S. Airways.

She placed a rock on top of it to keep it from blowing away.