The Orange County Grand Jury today indicted Shalabh Rastogi for last month's strangulation-murder of the 39-year-old Irvine resident's wife, Jalina George.
The father of three, who is being held without bail pending arraignment Friday on the indictment, is charged with one felony count of murder and faces a maximum
sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted.
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A grand jury indictment means the case can move more quickly to trial because it removes the need for a preliminary hearing.
Rastogi was having marital trouble his 40-year-old wife eluded to in tweets and other social-network messages before he called Irvine Police the night of May 21. He allegedly told cops he killed his wife, and responding officers found George's body in the bedroom closet of their apartment.
Jalina George, OC Homicide No. 18: Husband Held for Strangulation Murder
Rastogi was arrested without incident and out of sight of the three children he had with George, as they were not home at the time. They were later taken into protective custody.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.