A patient has been sentenced to life in prison 4 years after brutally murdering his psychiatrist.
According to news reports, Umar Dutt, then age 21, went to the office of psychiatrist Achutha Reddy, MD, in Wichita, Kan., on Sept. 19, 2017, aiming to hold the doctor hostage. Dr. Reddy’s office manager reportedly heard noise coming from the closed office and after entering, found Mr. Dutt assaulting the 57-year-old Dr. Reddy.
She intervened, and Dr. Reddy fled the building, but Mr. Dutt followed him and ultimately stabbed the physician more than 160 times. Mr. Dutt than ran over Dr. Reddy’s body.
The patient was arrested that day elsewhere and initially entered a “not guilty” plea in Sedgwick County District Court in 2019. Mr. Dutt was held in the county jail on a $1 million bond.
In September 2021, he changed his plea to guilty. He was sentenced on Nov. 9.
He received credit for time served of 4 years. The prosecutors and defense attorneys and the judge recommended that Mr. Dutt serve his sentence at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility because of a history of mental illness.
KWCH reports that the Kansas Department of Corrections will ultimately decide where Mr. Dutt will be incarcerated.
Dr. Reddy left behind a wife and three children.
At Mr. Dutt’s sentencing hearing, Dr. Reddy’s widow, Beena Reddy, MD, a Wichita-based anesthesiologist, reportedly told the court: “My children and I have been devastated by Achutha’s death. Our stability, our security, our peace of mind, has been destroyed by the premeditated, evil actions of Umar Dutt.”
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.