News East West
TORONTO: A 34-year-old Indo-Canadian woman has been arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of another Indo-Canadian woman in Ottawa.
Gurpreet Ronald, 34, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges in the killing of Jagtar Gill, 43, on January 29 this year.
Jagtar Gill was found dead in her living room by her husband Bhupinderpal Gill and daughter Dilpreet Gill when they came back from shopping for the couple’s 17th wedding anniversary.
The families of the two women are long-time friends and neighbours. Not only this, the accused and her husband Jason Ronald and the victim’s husband Bhupinderpal Gill are employed with Ottawa’s transport service OC Transpo.
Gurpreet was called to police station on Tuesday. Her blood matched the DNA samples collected from the crime scene, and she was arrested. She appeared in court on Wednesday and was remanded into custody. Her next hearing by video is on April 16.
Her husband Jason Ronald was in the court during her brief appearance. But there was no exchange between the accused and her husband. “No comments,” is all he said when reporters asked him about his reaction to his wife’s arrest.
Gurpreet Ronald’s lawyer, Bruce Engel who spoke to her on the phone, said, “She (Gurpreet) is actually quite together. Very upset and quite shocked by the charges, but responsive and able to understand my questions and able to respond to them.’’
The arrest of Gurpreet Ronald shocked the victim’s brother-in-law Kulwinder Sidhu.
Sidhu, who was present in the court with his family members, said, “How could she do that? It’s unbelievable.’’
The motive for the killing is not known. But the very fact the accused and the victim’s husband worked at the same company may hold some clues.
