AI tool allegedly used to plan triple murder in Bengaluru over six months
Bengaluru police have arrested a couple for the murder of three family members, revealing that the suspect extensively used an artificial intelligence tool to plan the crime over six months. The case has stunned investigators, who said they 'almost considered naming the AI tool as an accomplice'.
According to police and court records, Kenneth (25) and his live-in partner Shwetha, both engineering graduates, allegedly killed Shwetha’s mother Muthulakshmi S (48), sister Supriya (20), and father Somasundar (54) at their flat in K R Puram on June 22. The alleged motive is a dispute over money Shwetha had taken from her parents and spent on Kenneth.
Investigators said Kenneth turned to an AI tool linked to a popular search engine for step-by-step guidance: how to kill three people, which chemicals remove bloodstains, how to package and move bodies, how to fend off intruders, and whether a furnace built for a planned cloud kitchen could be used to incinerate the bodies. Police sources said this is possibly the first time they have encountered such extensive use of AI in crime planning.
As part of the probe, police have written to the AI tool’s makers seeking details of Kenneth’s interactions to corroborate digital evidence. The case also highlights the social isolation of a tech-savvy generation, as Shwetha reportedly had no friends other than Kenneth.
Police sources described Kenneth’s inability to reflect on consequences, lack of social responsibility, and a rapid build-up of frustration leading to an 'eliminate them' mindset, as if life were a video game. Last Saturday, a magistrate’s court remanded Kenneth to judicial custody after nine days in police custody, during which polygraph and other tests were conducted. Shwetha, who sought a pardon and offered to confess, was remanded earlier.
Kenneth allegedly told investigators the idea of killing the family surfaced over a 'trivial grievance' and that he grew consumed by it, guided partly by the AI tool. He had built an iron furnace for the cloud kitchen and planned to repurpose it for burning bodies. Police noted that if Kenneth had spoken to a human friend, they might have advised against the wrong course.
