Police announced Dec. 23 that the case was being investigated as a homicide after receiving the medical examiner’s report.

According to court documents, the husband told detectives he and Sabbineni were married June 5, 2025, in an arranged marriage and moved in together in July.

He told detectives he had left the apartment on Oct. 27 to pick up medicine and go to Cold Stone Creamery before returning home.

Investigators later reviewed SmartRent data from the apartment’s electronic door lock and wrote that no one entered the apartment during the 37 minutes he was away.

The same records showed he returned at 6:53 p.m., stayed in the apartment for about 17 minutes, then left at 7:10 p.m., according to the document.

Detectives wrote that the bathroom door could be locked by turning the knob and closing the door, meaning someone could have locked it after Sabbineni was inside.

Investigators also wrote that the husband had a secret romantic relationship with another woman in India and continued communicating with her after his marriage.

Detectives said he did not disclose calls with that woman during his first interview, including calls around the time he said he was trying to get help for the locked bathroom door.

During a later interview with police, detectives confronted the husband about what they described as inconsistencies between his earlier statements and evidence gathered in the investigation.

According to the court document, the woman detectives said he had been communicating with called his cellphone toward the end of that interview.

The court document also describes messages in which Sabbineni complained multiple times about drinks tasting bitter. On the day she died, detectives wrote, she told the husband a smoothie he made tasted like “medicine” and “cough syrup.”

Bellevue police said they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public.