“Deputies arrived to find blood on a window"
A 57-year-old US Indian tech entrepreneur and his family were found dead in their home in a suspected murder-suicide.
Harshavardhana S Kikkeri, CEO of HoloWorld, was discovered with his wife and son in a townhouse in Newcastle, Washington.
His wife, 44-year-old Shwetha Panyam, also co-founded the robotics firm, which was based in Mysuru, India. Their 14-year-old son Dhruva was also found dead.
Authorities responded to a 911 call last week at the home in King County.
King County Sheriff’s spokesperson Brandyn Hull said:
“Deputies arrived to find blood on a window and a bullet in the street.”
Police arrived at the property just after 8 pm. They did not leave until after 3:45 am.
Inside, police found three bodies. The couple’s seven-year-old son was the only survivor.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Shwetha and Dhruva died by homicide. Harshavardhana’s death was ruled a suicide.
Police have yet to comment on the motive and declined to confirm whether the incident was a case of murder-suicide.
Hull added: “An investigation such as this takes time, and our detectives are working diligently to try and piece together what led to this incident.
“Until this work concludes, the Sheriff’s Office won’t have any further updates.”
Neighbours said that the family largely kept to themselves.
Originally from Manya’s Kikkeri village in Karnataka, Harshavardhana studied in Mysuru and the United States. He earned a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.
The tech entrepreneur also worked for Microsoft, specialising in robotics, and won multiple accolades.
According to the description of a TEDx talk he gave, Harshavardhana received awards including the Microsoft Gold Star, Infosys Excellence Award, and the Bharat Petroleum Scholarship.
He also reportedly held 44 international patents across the US, Europe, China and Japan, and won several chess tournaments.
In 2017, Harshavardhana and Shwetha returned to India and founded HoloWorld, known for creating the HoloSuit – a full-body, AI-enabled motion capture suit.
The suit was designed to act as a “virtual trainer for your body”, as Harshavardhana described in media appearances.
HoloWorld reportedly ceased operations in 2022, although its social media channels remained active as recently as November 2023.
The family moved back to the US in 2022.
Police say the investigation remains ongoing.
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