Police report details of investigation on Westminster doctor found dismembered; son is held without bail, charged with murder

Thomas Goodwin Smith, Molly Fellin Spence, Baltimore Sun
Updated ·3 min read

Carroll County sheriff’s deputies found suspected blood, human tissue and hair on tools and on a truck bumper Sunday night at the home of Maganbhai Madhubhai Pansuriya, after discovering the dismembered body of the 58-year-old Westminster doctor on the shoulder of a road earlier that night, according to court documents.

Deputies also found an Ozark Trail brand hatchet and packaging for the hatchet in the home; the sheriff’s office says the hatchet was purchased Sunday morning from a local Walmart by Pansuriya’s son, Ravi Maganbhai Pansuriya, 29, according to the statement of probable cause filed in the District Court of Maryland for Carroll County.

Ravi Pansuriya was arrested Sunday night and is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his father. He is being held without bond at the Carroll County Detention Center.

According to court records he was represented Tuesday at a bail hearing by public defender Linda McClellan. On Wednesday Thomas Nugent of the public defender’s office declined to comment on the case. A preliminary hearing for Ravi Pansuriya is set for 8:45 a.m., Nov. 2, in Carroll County District Court.

According to the statement of probable cause, Maganbhai Pansuriya was reported missing Sunday night by his wife. Carroll County sheriff’s deputies responded at 9:13 p.m. to the Pansuriya home in the 600 block of Old Westminster Road. Maganbhai Pansuriya’s wife said she had not seen him since he left for work at about 10:15 a.m. that day.

While in the home deputies observed damage to a shower/bathtub and suspected blood on the floor of a bathroom and received information about a rug missing from the home’s laundry room, according to the statement.

As deputies took the missing-person report, a call was placed to 911 reporting a body on the shoulder of Medford Road and deputies located a deceased man, who was later identified as Maganbhai Pansuriya, wrapped in multiple blankets and a rug “similar to the one described by the victim’s wife,” according to the statement.

While executing a search warrant on the home, “deputies observed what appeared to be possible human flesh” on the rear bumper of a truck registered to Maganbhai Pansuriya and a doormat in the home’s driveway. Deputies located blood throughout the home, including in the bathroom and garage and also found “numerous tools” that appeared to have blood, tissue and hair on them in the garage.

Deputies also found clothing they say belonged to Ravi Pansuriya with suspected blood on them, according to the statement.

The statement of probable cause noted that video surveillance from the Walmart confirmed that Ravi Pansuriya purchased the hatchet found in the home.

Maganbhai Pansuriya had been licensed to practice medicine in Maryland since 1997. His license was on probation since May 17, according to the Maryland Board of Physicians, due to allegations of sexual misconduct. As part of the probation, Maganbhai Pansuriya was banned from being alone with female staff, compelled to install a workplace monitor and was required to pay a $7,500 fine.