Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy's murder: coroner's inquest reveals Tamworth man killed ex-partner before he ate a meal at Myer and bought the suitcase he left her body in

An inquest into Dr Reddy's death found Narde murdered her in a hotel room on March 3, 2019, before he ate a meal at a Myer food court and bought the suitcase he would later stuff her body in and leave in the boot of her car.

Narde died a few days later when he drove into the path of an oncoming truck south of Tamworth.

Dr Reddy was described by her sister as "elegant, bubbly, social, kind and witty" and was held in high regard by her friends and work colleagues.

In 2014, she started a relationship with Narde and her family began to notice a change in her, she wasn't her normal bubbly self and it was clear that Narde relied on her socially and emotionally.

After an on-and-off relationship the couple broke up, and Dr Reddy started a relationship with someone else.

On 2 March, 2019, the pair met up at a Sydney dentists conference and spent the evening together before returning to the Swissotel at 2:46am.

The following morning at 11:06am, Dr Reddy called her partner and told him she had been with her friends the night before and that her phone had run out of battery, she told him that she loved him and that was the last time she was known to be alive.

An hour-and-a-half later, CCTV footage showed Narde leaving the hotel room where he paid for an extra night and then walked through the lobby of the hotel to the Myer food court.

He then ordered a meal, ate it in the food court, bought a large suitcase and then purchased garbage bags from a nearby 7-Eleven.

Later he left the hotel again to buy cleaning products and towels before he returned to his room and asked a concierge to help lift the suitcase with Dr Reddy's body inside into the boot of her own car.

Narde left the car at a discount shop in Kingsford and took a taxi to the airport to book a flight to Tamworth.

Unable to do so, he hired a car and drove to Tamworth, stopping once at a fuel station in Muswellbrook about 10pm, where the attendant noted his phone rang continuously.

It is now known that Dr Reddy's sister was ringing him repeatedly to try to find out where she was or what had happened to her, the findings show.

The next day at about 11:20am, Narde went to Tamworth Police Station and gave a statement about the disappearance of Dr Reddy where police noted he was "extremely anxious and nervous with unsettled body language".

Later that day he went back to the police station to make a second statement and said he wanted to "clarify a number of points" at which point police described him as "more unsettled, flustered and worried".

Read also:

At 9:43pm that evening, Narde drove his car into an oncoming truck on the main road south of Tamworth, Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes said in the findings.

"I accept the determination made by the investigation that this was a deliberate act by Dr Narde to end his life," she said.

On March 5 at 9:19pm, police found Dr Reddy's body in the suitcase Narde purchased in the boot of her car.

An autopsy revealed she died of the combined effects of blunt force head trauma and stab wounds to the neck and back.

Police found her blood in the hotel bathroom after an investigation.

Coroner Forbes said Narde's actions were consistent with him trying to conceal his heinous act.

"The circumstances of Dr Reddy's death are truly tragic and horrifying," she said.

"Her death has been an unbearable loss to her family and partner.

"I express my deepest sympathy to them all in their grief."

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.