HOUSTON — Court documents revealed more details about what happened to Nepali student Muna Pandey last weekend.
Investigators said they were able to recover video from her apartment on West Airport Boulevard near where Highway 90 hits the Beltway on Saturday, Aug. 24.
They said it showed the 21-year-old was forced to open the door while being held at gunpoint by Bobby Shah, 51, who's charged with capital murder in connection with Pandey's death.
Shah appeared in court on Friday morning and was denied bond on the capital murder charge. The judge granted a $25,000 bond for an unlawful carry in a vehicle charge stemming from the gun allegedly used in the shooting.
He remains in the Harris County Jail.
The discovery
On Monday, Aug. 26, the leasing manager at the apartment complex where Pandey lived called police and told them she received a call from a man who told her there was a body inside a unit and then immediately hung up. She said she went to check the unit. She told police the door wasn't locked when they got there and they found Pandey dead on the bed.
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Pandey was the only person listed on the lease and lived there alone.
Who was Pandey?
A friend of Pandey's told investigators she was from Nepal and was in Houston to go to college. He said her immediate family members were all in Nepal and Dubai.
According to Nepalese Association of Houston board member Drona Gautam, Pandey was an only child who came to Houston in 2021.
Pandey's friend told investigators that she had dealt with a stalker about a year ago but lived at the apartment alone. Since she lived alone, he helped her install a camera above the entrance to her apartment that was motion-activated.
The investigation
According to court documents, Pandey had made plans to go out with friends on the Saturday that she was killed but never showed up. A friend said it was unlike her to not show up and not respond to messages.
Pandey's manager at the phone store where she worked also said it was unlike her to not respond to messages. He said he had been texting her about her schedule when she stopped responding.
How did she die?
Since there were no signs of forced entry to Pandey's apartment and her phone was missing. Authorities said they believed Pandey possibly knew the person who killed her, according to court documents.
A neighbor told investigators he heard loud thumping around 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Saturday Pandey was killed.
Once authorities were able to log in to her camera to see the recordings, they found three videos from around the time they believed she was killed.
In the first video, which was taken around 8:40 p.m. that night, Pandey was seen standing at her door with a man who was later identified as Shah. She was holding a shoe box, a shopping bag a jacket and a purse.
According to court documents, Shah was holding a gun while telling Pandey to open the door. When she asked him what he was going to do, he racked the slide of the gun and told her again to open the door, investigators said.
About a minute later, Pandey opens the door and Shah pushes her inside.
Just over an hour later, Shah was seen leaving the apartment carrying the black purse Pandey had brought inside, investigators said.
Authorities believe he killed her just before leaving. Investigators said Pandey was shot three times in her body and once in the head.
How was Shah caught?
Investigators released a still image of Shah at Pandey's apartment after her body was found.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, a person came forward and said Pandey used to work at his restaurant. He said an acquaintance called him to tell him he recognized the suspect as being a consistent customer at the restaurant. That acquaintance also said he and Shah had considered going into business together and gave investigators a copy of his license and also gave them his phone number.
That same day, Houston police said they got another call from a person who said they recognized Shah from the surveillance image. She said she recognized him through a dating website.
Shah was arrested Wednesday night during a traffic stop in northwest Houston. He was taken to the Harris County Jail.
Bond was denied for the murder charge. His next court appearance is set for next Tuesday, Sept. 3.