Last moments of murdered Baljit Singh are revealed
Murder victim Baljit 'Bill' Singh was stabbed in the neck moments before falling, or being pushed, backwards into the cellar where his body was found, a judge heard.
The 50-year-old had earlier been battered over the head up to 20 times in the lounge of the house with a blunt instrument - possibly a short iron bar - that has not been found.
Either these injuries or the knife wound could have killed him, a pathologist ruled before giving both as the cause of death.
Forensic scientist Hazel Johnson managed to reconstruct the final minutes in the life of Mr Singh from bloodstains later found at the scene of the attack in Beeches Road, Rowley Regis where his business partner Stuart Millership was living when the murder was committed on December 23.
The victim was stabbed with a knife that had been given as a gift to the girlfriend of Millership although she played no part in the crime.
It severed a carotid artery. The knife was still stuck in the left side of the neck when the body was discovered by police hidden under bin bags in the cellar on New Year's Day.
Mr Singh from Meadow Road, Harborne suffered fractured bones in his hands while he desperately tried to fend off the blows that rained down on him.
Mrs Johnson told Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday: "Based on the blood found on the wall, carpet and behind the settee I conclude that Mr Singh was assaulted in the lounge. He then either moved or was physically moved to the top of the cellar steps. He was stabbed in the neck just before, or while falling, or being pushed down the steps."
His body was discovered when police searched the cellar on New Year's Day - 24 hours after 33-year-old unemployed Millership had been arrested.
Millership admits being at the scene when the attack started. He has pleaded guilty to the murder on the basis that he played a minor role in the crime with the fatal blows being struck by two Albanians.
The prosecution dispute this and maintain he acted alone after becoming increasingly frustrated over the non payment of a £12,500 debt he claimed was owed to him by Mr Singh. A judge will rule on the matter and sentence Millership later this week at the end of the case.
