"on a chair in the living room was a farewell note"
An inquest heard that the boss of a well-known Birmingham supermarket killed his wife before setting himself on fire in a murder-suicide.
On the afternoon of June 29, 2021, emergency services were called to a property in Kenilworth Road, where many of Coventry’s wealthy live.
At the £1.5 million mansion, police found an elderly man’s body in the back garden.
The body of a 73-year-old woman was subsequently found inside the address.
Neighbours had said that the family were wealthy and had made their fortune through the textiles industry.
The deceased were identified as 87-year-old Sewa Singh Badial and his wife Sukhjit, aged 73.
Mr Badial ran the Badial Department store on Soho Road in Handsworth.
It was heard that he repeatedly struck his wife with a machete in the living room of their home.
Mr Badial then went into the garden and sat in an outdoor fire pit, wearing bloodstained clothes.
He was seen on CCTV pouring liquid onto himself before igniting it.
At Coventry Coroner’s Court, an inquest heard that “on a chair in the living room was a farewell note written by the deceased describing an argument with his wife”.
Delroy Henry, area coroner for Coventry and Warwickshire, concluded that Mr Badial had committed suicide while his wife had been unlawfully killed.
In the recording of the hearing, the coroner said Mrs Badial had “suffered a number of chop wounds to her upper body and limbs which were described as defensive actions to ward off a bladed implement”.
A large billhook (a garden machete) was found by her body, along with a wrench, which was also used to strike her across the face.
The coroner said Mrs Badial died of head and facial injuries while her husband’s cause of death was from the effects of fire.
At the time of their deaths, hundreds of people took to social media to express their sadness, offering their condolences and prayers for the couple.
The couple had four children and seven grandchildren.
A statement from their family said they were “keen supporters of good causes and committed members of the local Midlands community.”
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