A Tennessee man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the murder of his ex-wife, who was shot to death on a Gaithersburg street last fall.
Baldeo Teneja, 63, was found guilty in August of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of his ex-wife, Preeta Paul Gabba, 49.
Teneja's current wife, 63-year-old Raminder Kaur, was also found guilty of those charges. She is awaiting a sentencing date.
Police say Teneja and Kaur traveled from their Nashville home and checked into a Red Roof Inn in Rockville the weekend of Gabba's death.
Gabba was found dead on the morning of Oct. 12, 2013 in the 19700 block of Crystal Rock Drive.
Detectives learned Teneja was supposed to appear in court a few days prior to his ex-wife's death to discuss $10,000 in back alimony and division of other property, but failed to appear.
"It looks like it was an acrimonious divorce. Alimony was being paid by one defendant and the current wife of Baldeo Teneja, she really hated this victim," Ramon Korionoff of the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office said in August.
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Teneja and Kaur had purchased two guns in Nashville in the days leading up to the shooting, authorities said.
"We are pleased with this sentence," state attorney John McCarthy said Wednesday in a release. "An acrimonious divorce is not a reason to kill your ex-wife. Today Mr. Taneja is being [held] accountable for the murder of his ex-wife in such a cold, calculated and violent way."
Gabba's 22-year-old son told News4 last fall that his mother worked long hours at a moving company.
"She always wanted me to focus on my school and finish college and become somebody in life," said Lim Gabba, a student at Montgomery College.
He said his mother was his only family in the United States.
