Vedam Arrested in UF Murder
Date: February 20, 2004Source: WCJB news
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He's been arrested for his best friend's murder, University of Florida student Sudheer Reddy Satti. Praveen Vedam remained at the Alachua County Jail Wednesday night after a judge issued an arrest warrant charging him with murder. Vedam has been at the Alachua County Jail since January 21 on a grand theft charge related to the case.
Praveen Vedam's attorney spoke with him after the arrest warrant came out Wednesday. Vedam maintains he had nothing to do with his best friend's death. "As he's said before he's innocent of it. He's very upset and all we can do is confront the allegations once they're made," says Robert Rush, Vedam's Defense Attorney.
Vedam is already facing charges of grand theft after University Police found Sudheer Reddy Satti's laptop case in Vedam's office building. Satti's family, who lives in India, became suspicious of Vedam after that initial discovery.
"Praveen accessing the e-mail account and computer, all coming from Praveen's office or Praveen's home place, it's not a coincidence. We thought he may be involved, but we were not sure," says Harrish Reddy Satti, Sudheer's brother.
Friends of Sudheer's share in the shock of the possibility that someone who knew him could have brutally taken his life. "He was kind of nice, easy-going, and very shy. I can't imagine that some guy can take the life from him. That was terrible," says Chen Qi who lives in Maguire Village and was a friend of Sudheer's. Vedam was Sudheer's best friend and family spokesperson here in the United States after police found Sudheer stabbed to death in his Maguire Village apartment. Satti's family waits to hear more about Vedam's connection.
"We are in a 50-50 percent chance because we can't decide. We are not sure. We are over here, and we can't decide whether he did it or not," says Harrish Reddy Satti.
"There's a very large gap between making an allegation and having proof that it will stand up in court. I look forward to examining the proof that they say they have," says Rush.
Vedam was actually in the process of being released from jail Wednesday after posting bond on the grand theft charge. But, those plans were put on hold when the arrest warrant came out. Vedam will now be looking at a first-degree murder charge.
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