An Arizona student allegedly killed his girlfriend – who planned to break up with him over his domestic violence – before he was caught in Europe trying to escape back to his native India. Varun Batchigari is suspected of first-degree murder in the strangulation of 19-year-old college student Julissa Rubi Salazar inside her apartment near the University of Arizona in Tucson on Thursday. Julissa Salazar was found dead inside her off-campus apartment in Tucson, Arizona, on Aug. 6, 2026. Varun Batchigari is suspected of first-degree murder in the strangulation of 19-year-old college student Julissa Rubi Salazar. Batchigari will be extradited to Arizona, where he will be booked into Pima County Adult Detention on his first-degree murder charge.