Suspect in deadly kidnap had gambling debts

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- A young man mired in gambling debts told police he killed a 10-month-old girl and her grandmother during a botched kidnapping after losing at least $15,000 at a casino near his office.

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 26, knew the family from his apartment complex. Like him, the baby's parents were technology professionals from India. He had gone to the wife's birthday party, met the visiting grandmother and then used family nicknames in a ransom note demanding $50,000.

"They both are working, so I thought maybe they have some money," Yandamuri told police in a videotaped statement played at his preliminary hearing yesterday, during which a suburban Philadelphia judge ordered him to stand trial on murder, kidnapping and other charges.

"My intention was not to kill anyone or not to harm anyone," he said. "I only tried to kidnap the baby."

Yandamuri told investigators he panicked after the grandmother, who had opened the apartment door to him on Oct. 22, was killed in a struggle over a kitchen knife he had brought.

He accidentally dropped the baby, put a handkerchief over her mouth to quiet her and tied a towel around her head, he told police. He then left the infant -- with her dark hair, huge dark eyes and white dress -- in a trash-strewn, unused sauna in a basement fitness center, he said.

He said he returned hours later with milk for her, but found her "unconscious." Yandamuri was arrested days later as police, given the nicknames in the ransom note, zeroed in on people who knew the couple. -- AP