The wife of a Union Memorial Hospital doctor was charged with fatally stabbing her husband in the neck early yesterday at his North Baltimore apartment, according to city police and court documents.
Dr. Vinesh Patel, 26, died of multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest that he suffered in his bedroom. His wife, Dr. Alpna Patel, a 27-year-old dentist, was charged yesterday with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon. She was being held in the Central Booking and Intake Center without bail and could have a bail hearing today.
Alpna Patel, who is a Canadian citizen, was introduced to Vinesh by her family. The couple married in June after he graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo medical school.
He was described by classmates as quiet and reserved. He excelled academically and loved to play racquetball, the classmates said, but rarely socialized with other students. He lived with his parents throughout college and medical school.
Alpna Patel began her dental residency at SUNY-Buffalo after their wedding. She lived with his parents in Getzville, N.Y.
Vinesh Patel moved to Baltimore in July, his first time living away from home. He was a surgical resident at Union Memorial, where he was working to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Police said Patel's wife drove from New York on Tuesday night to visit him at the apartment in the 6200 block of Pimlico Road. Officers were called to the second-story apartment shortly before 3 a.m. yesterday after the victim's mother, who was visiting from New York and who had been asleep on the couch before the stabbing, screamed for a neighbor to call police.
When officers arrived, Alpna Patel answered the door covered in blood, police said. Vinesh Patel was taken to Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3: 47 a.m.
Police said Alpna Patel told detectives during questioning that she stabbed her husband. Investigators declined to elaborate about the circumstances or a possible motive.
Vinesh Patel graduated summa cum laude in 1994 from the SUNY-Buffalo School of Engineering. That fall, he entered medical school.
"He was very conscientious and a very good student," said Dr. Keith Volmar, who went to medical school with Vinesh Patel and is a pathology resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Pub Date: 3/25/99