Houston: The attorney for an Indian-origin couple, found dead under mysterious circumstances in a house in Texas, wants an independent investigation into their deaths. Attorney David Finn said yesterday he has no idea precisely what led to the death of Pallavi and Sumeet Dhawan last week but he knew they were under tremendous stress over accusations that the mother killed their 10-year-old son, Arnav. He also demanded probe into their son's death. "I still smell a rat, and I hope the Texas Rangers look into that. I've been practicing defense for over 12 years, everything from speeding tickets to assaults to DWIs. I have never encountered a Frisco case where there was not audio and video recording. Not once, ever," Finn said. The bodies of the couple were found on September 3. Sumeet was found dead on a bed in a downstairs bedroom, while Pallavi was found dead in her swimming pool.
Frisco police said a blunt-force head wound was found on Sumeet, but no signs of trauma were found on Pallavi. The official statuses of the couple's autopsies are pending, and toxicology and other tests results still need to come back. Attorney David Finn was representing Pallavi in her criminal case in the death of her son, and he blames Frisco police for putting the Dhawan family through a legal limbo. Since January, Finn maintained that Arnav died from natural causes stemming from a brain cyst, and said a packet that had been prepared for a grand jury shows Arnav's medical records support that. However, now Finn wants an independent investigation conducted by the Texas Rangers or even the FBI into the Frisco Police Department's investigation into Arnav's death.
Following the deaths of Pallavi and Sumeet, Frisco police requested that the Texas Rangers help investigate. Finn said he called the Texas Rangers seven months ago, asking them to intervene in Arnav's death investigation and pleaded with police for seven months to submit the murder case to the grand jury. Finn questioned why the two officers who discovered Arnav's body in a bathroom did not have their body microphones or police cruiser dash cameras on at the time. In a recent hearing, one detective testified he did not know of any recordings. Finn said he spoke to the couple on August 29. He did not suspect "anything was imminent" that something would happen between the couple, so he was stunned to learn of their deaths. Finn also wants police to release a note they say was found in the Dhawan home on the day of their deaths. "And I think the public deserves to know what's in the note, even if some members of the family want it to be kept private," he added.
