HOUSTON: A 50-year-old Indian-origin motel manager was brutally beheaded in front of his wife and son in Dallas, Texas, following a dispute over a washing machine, police said.
The victim, Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, originally from Karnataka, was attacked on Wednesday morning at the Downtown Suites motel by his co-worker, 37-year-old Yordanis Cobos-Martinez.
According to Dallas police, the altercation began after Nagamallaiah asked another person to translate his instructions to Cobos-Martinez, which enraged the suspect. Surveillance footage reportedly showed Cobos-Martinez retrieving a machete and attacking him.
Nagamallaiah tried to escape to the motel office, where his wife and 18-year-old son were present, but the suspect pursued him and carried out the assault despite their desperate attempts to intervene.
Cobos-Martinez, who has a prior criminal record in Houston with arrests for auto theft and assault, has been arrested and charged with capital murder. He is being held without bond and faces either life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty if convicted.
Known as “Bob” to friends and family, Nagamallaiah was remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, and kind-hearted man. “This unimaginable tragedy was deeply traumatic, as it happened in front of his wife and son,” friends said, adding that the attack has left the local Indian community in shock.
A fundraiser has been launched to support his family with funeral expenses, immediate needs, and his son’s college education. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday.
