Suspect Arrested in the Valentine's Day Homicide of a Jansen Ave. Woman

Police arrested a Carteret man Friday in the death of a woman whose body was found when firefighters responded to a fire at her Jansen Ave. home in Avenel last month.

Harpal Singh, 45, was arrested outside his Carteret home and charged with murder, aggravated arson, and robbery in the Valentine's Day death of Balwinder Kaur, said James O'Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex County prosecutor's office.

According to police and investigators from the prosecutor's office, Singh was an acquaintance of Kaur's. Police charge that he allegedly entered the victim's home and strangled her to death, then stole items from the house and set the fire to cover his tracks in the murder of Kaur.

which roared through the bay window of the modern, two-story home in Avenel, and called 911. Firefighters, EMS personnel and police responded to the blaze and discovered Kaur's body inside the front door of the house.

Police said at the time of the fire that Kaur, 45, had been "physically attacked" and was the likely victim of a homicide. She was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy performed afterward by the county medical examiner determined that Kaur had been strangled.

Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz in New Brunswick set bail for Singh at $2 million. The suspect is being held in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility in North Brunswick, O'Neill said.

The investigation that resulted in Singh's arrest was conducted by Woodbridge Police Detective Shayne Bodnar and Investigator Michael Daniewicz of the prosecutor's office.

Anyone with information that can help in the investigation is urged to contact Bodnar at 732-634-7700 or Daniewicz at 732-745-4018.