A triple killer has pleaded guilty to the murders of a nurse and her two young children.
Saju Chelavalel, 52, entered his plea to the murders of NHS nurse Anju Ashok and her children, six-year-old Jeeva Saju and Janvi Saju, aged four on Wednesday at Northampton Crown Court.
Forensic post-mortem examinations at Leicester Royal Infirmary found they had died as a result of asphyxiation last December.
The case against Chelavalel was not opened after he admitted the offences during a 12-minute hearing at Northampton Crown Court.
Assisted by an interpreter in the dock, Chelavalel answered “guilty” to two of the counts he faced, but in relation to the charge of murdering Jeeva he replied: “I don’t know what happened to the children, but I plead guilty.”
Adjourning the case until July 3, Judge David Herbert KC said: “There can only be one sentence in law, namely a life sentence, but the judge dealing with your case on that day will have to set the appropriate minimum term.”
Northants Police arrested Chelavalel after officers were called to his address in Kettering on 15 December and found Ms Ashok, 35, Jeeva and Janvi and with serious injuries. The mother and two children died a short time later.
Ms Ashok was a staff nurse at Kettering General Hospital.
The hospital chief executive, Deborah Needham, said in a statement at the time of her murder: “Yesterday we received the extremely upsetting news that one of our colleagues had died in circumstances being investigated by Northamptonshire Police.
“Anju Asok was an internationally trained nurse who joined our KGH family in 2021 and predominantly worked on Barnwell B – one of our Orthopaedic wards.
“She was a committed and compassionate staff nurse, who was loved and respected by her dear friends and colleagues.
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