Milpitas woman accused of killing her 2 ‘best friends’ hours apart

A Milpitas woman accused of intentionally running over and killing her friend has now been charged with murdering a second woman on the same day. The suspect was reportedly friends with both victims.

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Anila Baby, 32, was charged Tuesday with murder in the Aug. 28 stabbing death of a woman identified as Ann Mary Mathew at a home on the 700 block of Linda Vista Street, the San Jose Police Department announced. 

Baby was already charged with murdering 35-year-old Anjana Hari, who police said was struck and killed with an SUV in a Milpitas apartment complex parking lot around noon on the same day.

Less than two hours after Hari was struck and killed, San Jose officers were called to the Linda Vista Street home shortly before 2 p.m. for a report of suspicious circumstances and found an unconscious woman inside. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators, working with the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office, found evidence that the woman had suffered at least one stab wound and classified her death as a homicide. 

“Really, the biggest heartbreak of this case is these families were best friends and want answers as to why someone could do this to their friend,” Deputy District Attorney Marisa McKeown said in a news conference, according to KGO-TV.

McKeown described the killings as “willful, premeditated and extremely violent crime scenes” and said prosecutors hope the investigation can provide answers to the victims’ families.

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Baby was arrested on Aug. 28 by Milpitas police in connection with Hari’s death. Witnesses had reported seeing a blue SUV leave the Mill Creek Apartments after Hari was struck, and officers later found the damaged vehicle nearby and arrested Baby the same day.

A felony complaint filed Sept. 1 alleges Baby killed Hari “with malice aforethought.” Prosecutors also allege the crime involved great violence, that Baby was armed with or used a weapon, and that the manner of the killing indicated planning.

Baby, Matthew and Hari were friends and had lived in the same apartment building, Hari’s relatives previously told the Indian Express. 

Baby is scheduled for a plea hearing Nov. 17, according to Santa Clara County Superior Court records reviewed by SFGATE.