Friend of murdered Nepalese student tells how he helped set up camera that captured suspected killer

HOUSTON – Dipendra Kunwar spoke to KPRC2 reporter Corley Peel. He described Muna Pandey, 21, as a little sister he never had. He said they grew up together in Nepal before moving to Houston. A year ago, Pandey reached out to Kunwar for help after becoming concerned about a potential stalker.

“She called me and said a guy was at her window. Someone was following her and walking around her windows and door, so she called me and she also called the police,” Kunwar said.

Kunwar said he helped install a surveillance camera outside his apartment. Once the camera was installed, the stalker stopped coming.

The man who allegedly followed Pandey has never been identified.

Kunwar said he never worried about her safety again. Until last week, when investigators announced that Pandey had been found shot to death in her Reserve apartment at 63 Sixty-Three Apartments, off West Airport Boulevard. Pandey was found Monday, two days after she was believed to have been killed. Investigators said the apartment management received an anonymous call from an unknown person saying a body was inside the apartment. Police immediately asked Kunwar for help checking Pandey’s camera. Kunwar told Corley what the camera showed.

“When she tried to open the door, the man came with a gun and told her to open the door and let him in. She had no idea that he was waiting for her to come there,” Kunwar said.

About an hour later, the man was seen leaving Pandey’s apartment. Police said he left with her phone and purse. Police released a surveillance photo of the armed man. Several people called police, identifying Bobby Shah, 51, as the suspect. Police later found him during a traffic stop and charged him with first-degree murder.

Kunwar said Pandey’s relatives do not recognise Shah.

“She never mentioned it. She never mentioned it at all,” Kunwar said.

The only possible link, according to the records, shows that Shah was a frequent customer at a restaurant where Pandey worked a year ago.

Kunwar has a question for Shah.

“I think we just want to know why? She wasn’t a threat to him. She came here with nothing, built a life for herself. She bought an apartment, a car. She was supposed to graduate with her associate’s degree this semester. She was confident, kind, loving. She believed she could do it and she didn’t let anything get in her way,” Kunwar said.

Without Pandey’s surveillance camera, Kunwar said, Shah might never have been arrested.

Kunwar said Pandey dreamed of becoming a nurse and taking care of her mother. Pandey’s relatives are trying to get Pandey’s mother to come to Houston from Nepal so they can give Pandey a proper funeral.

Shah’s next court appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.