A wannabe vigilante who allegedly stabbed and killed a man in Fremont, California, told police he targeted the victim because his name was on a public sex offender registry, according to court documents.
Fremont police were called to a home in the city after David Brimmer, 71, was allegedly stabbed by Varun Suresh, 29.
Brimmer died at the scene, while Suresh was detained. Officers said in a report that a knife was recovered from his person. He was charged with murder on Monday.
Court documents released on Monday claim that Suresh told police that he had wanted to kill a sex offender for years because “they hurt children.” He reportedly also told them that all sex offenders “deserve to die” and explained his rationale for the alleged killing.
“It is not your duty to decide whether Heaven will accept them, it’s your duty to send them to the gates,” he allegedly said.
Brimmer is listed on California’s Megan’s Law website as a sex offender. In 1995, he was convicted of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child, and he spent nine years in prison for his crimes.
According to police, Suresh did not know Brimmer.
When investigators searched Suresh’s phone, they reportedly found screenshots of several profiles on the Megan’s Law website. The site includes names, addresses, physical descriptions, photos, and convictions of those on the registry.
The screenshot of Brimmer’s profile was reportedly taken about 45 minutes before the first 911 call was made to reporting the stabbings, according to police.
Police say Suresh impersonated a “CPA going door-to-door looking for new clients” as a ruse to get Brimmer to answer. Suresh allegedly was carrying a bag, a notebook, and coffee around with him to “appear authentic.”
“Suresh thought [Brimmer] may be ‘monitoring’ his residential street ‘thinking someone was going to kill him,’” court documents say. “So, Suresh used the same ruse at [Brimmer’s] neighbors’ houses prior to going to the victim’s address. This…would make Suresh appear legitimate.”
Investigators said that Suresh eventually knocked on Brimmer’s door and spoke with him to try to “appear as non-threatening as possible.” Suresh reportedly shook Brimmer’s hand and, after confirming his name, said “I knew I had the right guy.”
According to court documents, Suresh then dropped his items and pushed Brimmer back into his home. Brimmer managed to escape tried to flag down a vehicle for help, but it did not stop, according to reports.
Suresh alleged Brimmer grabbed a rock as though he were going to defend himself after seeing the suspect’s knife, but “didn’t fight back.” He also allegedly told police that he asked Brimmer if he “believes in God” and told him to “get his last words in.”
After a chase that lasted two blocks, and ended in a neighbor’s kitchen, Suresh eventually caught Brimmer, and allegedly stabbed him in the neck. The suspect told the man to “repent,” according to court documents.
Brimmer managed to turn onto his stomach and tried to crawl away, but Suresh cut his throat, investigators said.
“I just wanted to make sure it was done,” Suresh allegedly told authorities.
After his arrest, Suresh allegedly said that he never planned on getting away with his murder and claimed he would have called the police himself if he wasn’t sure they were already on the way. He reportedly said he wanted to be arrested.
“I’m hoping that because [the victim is] a pedophile… like, everyone hates pedophiles… so like, it should be cool. It should be cool,” Suresh allegedly said, according to court documents.
Investigators claim in post-arrest interviews Suresh said he was “not sorry” for killing Brimmer and that he “didn’t feel sad at all,” and went so far as to describe murdering the man as “honestly really fun.”
Suresh was previously arrested in 2021 for making a fake bomb threat, for making criminal threats, and for burglary after he left a suspicious bag at Hyatt Place, where Fremont police had shot and killed a suspect in an unrelated incident the previous night.
After his 2021 arrest, Suresh reportedly told police that he believed the CEO of Hyatt Hotels “was a pedophile, that he wanted to kill him, that he was ‘hunting’ the CEO and had been for a while.”
