Dubai court documents reveal chilling details of Arabian Ranches double murder

Prosecutors said the suspect lay in wait for hours before breaking into the home of Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya

Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya were killed when a intruder broke into their Dubai villa. Their two daughters, 13 and 18, survived. Courtesy: Adhiya family

Police previously released this image of the man, who was convicted of the couple's murder in April. Photo: Dubai Police

The couple were found dead at a villa in the Mirador district of Arabian Ranches, a community on the outskirts of Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Neighbours in the upscale community said they often leave their doors and garages unlocked. Pawan Singh / The National

The Ranches area also saw a spate of burglaries late last year, residents said. Pawan Singh / The National

Police said the suspect climbed over an external wall to avoid security guards. Pawan Singh / The National

A labourer accused of killing a couple in a gated community in Dubai hid in their garden for hours before breaking into their villa and stabbing them to death.

The man is accused of the murder of Hiren, 48, and Vidhi Adhiya, 40, on June 17.

The couple were killed in a frenzied assault as they slept in their beds, in what prosecutors said was a planned robbery that led to murder.

The man is also accused of attacking their two teenage daughters, who found their parents in pools of blood, at their home in the Mirador area of Arabian Ranches.

The details are revealed in prosecution files lodged with Dubai Court before a murder trial.

In an interview with police, the Pakistani attacker, 24, said he saw money and valuables at the villa when he did maintenance work there two years earlier.

The files reveal how he bought a knife from a supermarket in Sharjah at about 5pm on June 17. The man then paid an unemployed Pakistani man Dh70 to drive him to the area and he waited outside the family's villa in Mirador for four hours from 7pm.

At 11pm, he climbed into the villa’s garden and waited for another two hours for the family to fall asleep.

After the lights went off, the intruder took off his shoes and sneaked in through an unlocked patio door.

He stole Dh1,965 from a wallet on the ground floor and went upstairs in search of more.

When Mr Adhiya woke to the sound of the bedside drawer opening, the attacker stabbed him to death before turning to his wife.

Forensic reports showed Mr Adhiya was stabbed 10 times in the head, chest, abdomen and left shoulder. His wife was stabbed 14 times in her head, neck, chest, face, ear and right arm.

The attack disturbed the couple's children, who were sleeping in a different room.

"I went upstairs after hearing loud noises and used my mobile phone's flashlight to see," said one of their daughters, 18.

As he tried to flee, the man stabbed her in the neck but she kicked him in self-defence.

She then found her father on the floor and her mother in bed. Her sister, 13, saw the scene but her elder sibling closed the door and called the police and her father's colleague for help.

“She called at around 1.56am and was hysterical and screaming, saying her mother was dead but her father was still moving and that an attacker stabbed her too,” said the Indian manager, 47.

“I thought she must have had a nightmare but then woke my wife up and headed to their villa where we found the ambulance and police."

Investigators found a bloody handprint on the wall, while police said a mask found on the victims' bed had blood samples matching the accused's DNA.

“We found the knife he used in the murder around 500 metres away from the villa,” an Emirati police officer was quoted as saying in the case files.

CCTV footage from the Sharjah supermarket showed the accused buying the knife on the day of the murder.

The driver also said he picked up the man and he appeared scared and had scratches on his neck.

“He took my contact number when I drove him to Arabian Ranches. Then called me again around 5.30am,” said the Pakistani man, 35.

“When I picked him up, he was barefoot, scared and his voice sounded different and I noticed scratches on his neck.”

The accused claimed he was scratched during a fight with a group of men over Dh5,000, said the driver.

Police arrested the labourer in Sharjah a few days later.

He faces charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder and theft, which prosecutors say he admitted to during questioning.

On Sunday, the case files were referred to the Dubai Criminal Court but a date for the first hearing has not yet been set.

The family are from Gujarat and in the days after the murder, friends paid tribute to the couple.

“I treated him as if he was my big brother," Jaimin Patel, a family friend, said.

"He was a guardian, a guiding light for all of us. He left India to secure the future of his daughters. That was the aim with which he travelled to the UAE.

"My one hope is that his daughters are able to complete his wish and will have a bright future."