Surrey man pleads guilty in murder of wife
Posted June 23, 2023 1:59 pm.
Last Updated June 23, 2023 2:16 pm.
The man who was accused of killing his wife in Surrey last December has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Harpreet Kaur Gill.
Navinder Sing Gill’s lawyer, Gagan Nahal, says his client made the decision prior to his arraignment hearing Thursday, months after they received disclosure documents.
“Mr. Gill had the opportunity to review and consider the disclosure and the evidence in its entirety. And he canvassed that with us with us and we went over all of his legal options, including trial,” Nahal explained.
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“Mr. Gill, after reading the disclosure, he indicated to us that it is his intention to enter a guilty plea. Given the evidence against him, he did not want to contest this by way of a trial. He is giving up that right. He voluntarily entered a guilty plea [Thursday] without any pressure from anyone else, gave up his right to a trial, and he understands by entering a guilty plea that whatever the ultimate sentence is, as defence, we cannot choose that, Crown cannot choose that, it is up to the presiding judge at the sentencing.”
Harpreet Kaur Gill was found in her Surrey home suffering from stab wounds on Dec. 7, 2022. She later died in the hospital. Her husband was arrested just over a week later and was charged in connection with his wife’s death.
The 40-year-old woman’s father told OMNI News in an exclusive interview last year that he learned of her death from his son.
“We never imagined. We were shocked. ‘What has happened to our daughter? She has been murdered? How? Why?,'” Jasbir Singh Bajwa recalled.
Bajwa says his daughter worked as a science teacher in India and Australia before getting married in 2011. He says his daughter and her husband moved with their small family to Canada in 2015.
Navinder Sing Gill is expected to be sentenced later this year.
Nahal says second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a minimum of 10 years with no parole eligibility.
-With files from Greg Bowman and Prabhjot Kahlon