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Panghali found guilty of second-degree murder, interference with dead body
By Staff Reporter, The Province - February 4, 2011 1:03 PM
Family and friends of Manjit Panghali burst into tears when a judge found her husband, Mukhtiar Panghali, guilty of killing his pregnant wife and burning her body on a beach off Deltaport Way.
Panghali, 39, was charged with second-degree murder and interference with a dead body.
Justice Heather Holmes delivered her verdict in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster Friday.
Manjit disappeared after attending a prenatal yoga class in south Surrey on Oct. 18, 2006. She was four months pregnant with her second child. Her remains were found five days later.
An autopsy determined that the 31-year-old had been strangled to death before her body was set on fire.
During the three-week trial Crown prosecutor Dennis Murray outlined the Crown's theory that Manjit came home after her yoga class and her husband strangled her.
Murray alleged that Panghali, with or without the help of someone else, planted Manjit’s car on a Whalley street before disposing of her body.
During the trial, Murray showed video of a man entering a Chevron Town Pantry the night Manjit disappeared and purchasing a newspaper and a lighter. Witnesses identified the man as Panghali.
Murray also said Panghali’s behaviour after his wife’s disappearance — including walking out in the middle of a police interview — was indicative of an attempt to lead police astray and deflect attention from himself.
Defence lawyer Michael Tammen chose to call no witnesses but pointed out that there was no physical evidence that Mukhtiar committed the crime and no evidence of a motive.
Holmes said in her verdict that the Crown's case was entirely circumstantial.
"There is no direct evidence about what happened after Ms. Panghali drove away from the yoga studio," Holmes said.
However she said there was "powerful evidence" that Panghali was the person who killed Manjit. She also said that the fact that "considerable" force was applied to a much smaller person shows Panghali meant to cause her bodily harm or death
.
More to come.
© Copyright (c) The Province
By Staff Reporter, The Province - February 4, 2011 1:03 PM
MANJIT PANGHALI
Family and friends of Manjit Panghali burst into tears when a judge found her husband, Mukhtiar Panghali, guilty of killing his pregnant wife and burning her body on a beach off Deltaport Way.
Panghali, 39, was charged with second-degree murder and interference with a dead body.
Justice Heather Holmes delivered her verdict in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster Friday.
Manjit disappeared after attending a prenatal yoga class in south Surrey on Oct. 18, 2006. She was four months pregnant with her second child. Her remains were found five days later.
An autopsy determined that the 31-year-old had been strangled to death before her body was set on fire.
During the three-week trial Crown prosecutor Dennis Murray outlined the Crown's theory that Manjit came home after her yoga class and her husband strangled her.
Murray alleged that Panghali, with or without the help of someone else, planted Manjit’s car on a Whalley street before disposing of her body.
During the trial, Murray showed video of a man entering a Chevron Town Pantry the night Manjit disappeared and purchasing a newspaper and a lighter. Witnesses identified the man as Panghali.
Murray also said Panghali’s behaviour after his wife’s disappearance — including walking out in the middle of a police interview — was indicative of an attempt to lead police astray and deflect attention from himself.
Defence lawyer Michael Tammen chose to call no witnesses but pointed out that there was no physical evidence that Mukhtiar committed the crime and no evidence of a motive.
Holmes said in her verdict that the Crown's case was entirely circumstantial.
"There is no direct evidence about what happened after Ms. Panghali drove away from the yoga studio," Holmes said.
However she said there was "powerful evidence" that Panghali was the person who killed Manjit. She also said that the fact that "considerable" force was applied to a much smaller person shows Panghali meant to cause her bodily harm or death
.
More to come.
© Copyright (c) The Province
