Slain boy's words may come back to haunt dad

Five weeks before he died, 7-year-old Vishv Patel mustered enough strength from his bed in a hospital burn unit to identify who he said hurt him and his little brother - their father.

In a recent court filing, prosecutors revealed statements they said the Glendale Heights child made Jan. 12, 2008, to his mother and again the next day while police were present.

Kaushik J. Patel, 35, may face the death penalty if convicted of killing Vishv and 4-year-old Om after setting them on fire Nov. 18, 2007, in their home.

DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett rejected an earlier offer from Patel to plead guilty in exchange for a life prison term.

In a March 2008 jail interview, Patel told the Daily Herald he meant to harm only himself in a botched suicide attempt. He said his sons accidentally were burned when they ran into the bathroom.

But, in the Feb. 10 court filing, prosecutors said Vishv Patel told a far different story while talking to his mother, Nishaben, at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood. In the second interview, on Jan. 13, 2008, Glendale Heights police Detective Charles May also was present.

The boy described staying home that day with his father and little brother instead of attending a family party with his mother. He said his father took them to the store to buy toy cars and, after they returned home, told them to undress for a bath.

"After they did so, Vishv stated the defendant had them go to the defendant's shower and told them to play with the cars while they bathed," Assistant State's Attorney Alex McGimpsey wrote. "Vishv stated the defendant put them in a green plastic tub and poured liquid on them which Vishv knew was gasoline even though defendant said it was water."

The motion continued: "The defendant then lit his lighter resulting in a loud noise and fire causing Om and Vishv to be injured and burned."

Vishv survived several surgeries but took a sudden turn for the worse and died five weeks later on Feb. 19, 2008. Om had died that Jan. 17. Kaushik Patel survived his burns and was released from the same hospital four days before Vishv died.

DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell must rule after a evidentiary hearing that his statements are reliable enough to be admissible since the defendant's constitutional right to cross examine his accuser would be at issue given Vishv's death.

Kaushik Patel is being held in the DuPage County jail on a $10 million cash bond. He is due in court this morning for an unrelated hearing.

He told the Daily Herald he was suicidal over marital problems that arose after his mother-in-law moved in with the couple a few years earlier. He and his wife wed Aug. 12, 1997, in an arranged marriage in their native India, five years after he immigrated to the United States.

The former couple divorced last summer.