HOUSTON – Dipendra Kunwar sat down with KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel. He described 21-year-old Muna Pandey as a little sister he never had. He said they grew up together in Nepal before moving to Houston. A year ago, Pandey asked Kunwar for help after having concerns about a potential stalker.
“She called me and said some guy was at her window. Someone was following her, and they were walking around her windows and door so she called me and she also called police,” said Kunwar.
Kunwar said he helped install a surveillance camera outside her apartment. After the camera was up, he said the stalker stopped showing up.
The man believed to be following Pandey, was never identified.
Kunwar said he never worried about her safety again. Not until last week when investigators said Pandey was found shot to death inside her apartment at the Reserve at 63 Sixty-Three apartments off West Airport Boulevard. Pandey was found on Monday, two days after she was believed to have been killed. Investigators said an anonymous man called apartment management saying a dead body was inside the apartment. Police immediately asked for Kunwar’s 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 over there,” said Kunwar.
About an hour later, the man was seen leaving Pandey’s apartment. Police said he took off with her phone and purse.
Police released a surveillance photo of the gunman. Several people called police, identifying 51-year-old Bobby Shah as the suspect. Police later found him during a traffic stop and charged him with capital murder.
Kunwar said Pandey’s loved ones do not recognize Shah.
“She never mentioned him ever. She never mentioned him at all,” said Kunwar.
Records show Shah was a frequent customer at a restaurant Pandey worked at a year ago.
Kunwar has a question for Shah.
“I think we just want to know why? She was not a threat to him. She came over here with nothing, built a life for herself. Got herself an apartment, got herself a car. She was due to graduate with an associate degree this semester. She was confident, she was kind, she was loving. She had belief that she could do it and she didn’t let anything get in the way,” said Kunwar.
Without Pandey’s surveillance camera, Kunwar said Shah may have never been caught.
Kunwar said Pandey had dreams of becoming a nurse and taking care of her mother. Loved ones are trying to bring Pandey’s mother to Houston from Nepal so they can give Pandey a proper funeral.
Shah’s next court date is Tuesday at 9 a.m.