He later set fire to the house
Builder Shahbaz Khan, aged 51, of Burnley, admitted the murders of a doctor and her teenage daughter whose bodies were found in their fire-damaged home.
He had been on trial for the killings of Dr Saman Mir Sacharvi and Vian Mangrio.
Prosecutor David McLachlan QC previously told Preston Crown Court that Khan strangled Dr Sacharvi.
He then attacked her daughter when she returned from school.
He later set fire to the house, including the severe burning of the teenager in the lounge, an attempt to set Dr Sacharvi alight in the upstairs front bedroom and another fire in the kitchen.
Their bodies were discovered on October 1, 2020.
Khan was arrested after CCTV footage on September 30, 2020, showed him visiting the home where he previously carried out work including a garage conversion.
At his home, police found jewellery worth tens of thousands of pounds belonging to Dr Sacharvi in the loft.
Khan claimed the doctor asked him to keep them for “security purposes” whenever she left the country.
Police also recovered a mobile phone containing Google searches on the morning of September 30 for “obsessed” and “defined obsessed”.
After his arrest, Khan claimed supernatural spirits named Robert and Rita were responsible for the deaths.
While in prison, he wrote to various people saying Rita and Dr Sacharvi had killed Miss Mangrio before an “angry” Robert went upstairs and killed the doctor.
The builder and part-time Tesco worker later accepted this was not the case during his trial.
But he alleged that after he left the house at around 10 pm on September 30, another person entered and killed them.
On June 30, 2021, the builder changed his pleas and admitted to murdering Dr Sacharvi and Miss Mangrio.
Khan also admitted a count of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
His wife Rabia Shahbaz, aged 45, denies committing an act intended to pervert the course of public justice, namely giving a false alibi for Khan.
She remains on trial.
Trial judge Mr Justice Goss told jurors:
“That is the end of the case as far as Shahbaz Khan is concerned. You don’t need to consider his case any further.”
“His wife remains on trial and you will have to return a verdict in her case.”
He went on to say that it is likely that jurors will start their deliberations on July 1, 2021, after hearing closing speeches from the barristers and his summing up of the case.
The trial was adjourned until July 1.
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