The Star: December 01, 2022

The Star Thursday December 1 2022
4
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Coroner’s report reveals killer was
• By Sam Sherwood
KATE BELL felt her friends in
New Zealand had all settled
down and she was looking for a
fresh start and to continue her
career as a personal assistant.
So, aged in her late twenties,
she moved from Christchurch,
where she had grown up, to Melbourne
in April 2017.
Within a year she found a role
with Deloitte and told her parents
she felt she could relax as she had
a great group of friends. She was
living in a flat with a group of
women the same age.
Around May 2020 she began
working full-time as an executive
assistant with a global cost
consultant and quantity surveyor
company.
Her employer described her as
a positive person, “happy, and
always professional”. Her parents
said she was a “bubbly, outgoing,
and friendly young woman who
had a close relationship with her
family”. She loved socialising and
had a large group of friends.
In June 2020 she met Rahul
Patel on a dating site. A meeting
that would end in tragedy with
her murder and Patel taking his
own life.
Patel, born and raised in Auckland
was a “healthy, quiet, and
laid-back child who was very easy
to raise”, his parents said.
VICTIM: Kate Bell, 31, was murdered by her boyfriend
Rahul Patel in his Melbourne apartment in the early hours
of October 10, 2020.
PHOTO: NZ HERALD
“He was a hard worker and
dedicated to his school work
and extracurricular activities,
which included water polo and
soccer.”
He attended Auckland University
where he earned a double degree
in property and commerce.
After graduating, he started a
job in real estate and moved in
with his long-term girlfriend. The
couple separated in 2017 after
nine years, and he returned home
to his parents.
“There were no issues in his
relationship other than normal
disagreements,” State Coroner
Judge John Cain said in his
recently-released report.
In 2018, Patel started a job in
Melbourne as a building manager.
Cain said his relationship with
Bell progressed “very quickly”
due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Bell told a friend she felt very
spoilt but that it was “full-on”
given the length of the relationship.
“The couple would go on regular
dates and stay together at each
other’s residence after knowing
each other for only two to four
weeks,” Cain said.
She never reported any significant
concerns about him to close
family or friends.
“She felt it was easy to be in a
relationship with him, that he
treated her well and kept her
grounded,” Cain said.
Several days before the killing,
Patel, 29, spoke with his flatmates
about his relationship with Bell,
31. The flatmates said Patel was
questioning how “meaningful” it
was, and reported feeling that the
effort he was putting in was not
being reciprocated.
“He was extremely upset and
frustrated about the situation and
complained to his housemates
about his circumstances.”
Bell had also told a flatmate
she’d had an argument with Patel
about her relationship history.
“(Patel) responded in a passiveaggressive
manner, crying and
continuing to raise the topic of
past relationships with her. However,
two days later, (Patel) spent
the evening at (Bell’s) home and
appeared to be happy and content
together.”
On October 9, 2020, Patel
picked Bell up from her flat
so they could attend an AFLthemed
birthday party at his
home.
Bell was reportedly in “good
spirits”. The group had dinner
and drinks together with dancing
in the living room.
As the evening progressed Bell
was “quite drunk”, and Patel
appeared to be “a little more
possessive” and was “looking for
attention from [Bell] more than
usual”.
The couple went to bed at about
11.30pm. Sometime between
then and 3am Patel woke up and
got a 7.5kg weight plate from the
rooftop of his apartment and
went back to his bedroom.
“He repeatedly struck a sleeping
(Bell) to the head with the
weight plate, causing serious
injuries resulting in her death.”
Patel then went to his workplace.
At 3.18am he called emergency
services requesting police go to
his flat.
“I’ve just murdered my girlfriend
. . . I grabbed a seven –
like, a – like, a weight plate and
I hit her. I struck her over the
head probably about three to
four times. I don’t know if she’s
deceased but I presume so.”
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