Three Killers Of Indo-Canadian Woman To Get Two Separate Trials In 2016

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Amanpreet Kaur Bahia was slain in her Surrey home in 2007 and her husband Baljinder Singh Bahia, as well a Surrey woman named Tanpreet Kaur Athwal and Burnaby’s Eduard Viktorovitch Baranec, are charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. Amanpreet’s lifeless body was found in a pool of blood on the morning of Feb. 7, 2007 when some family members returned from an outing and found her with her youngest daughter. Amanpreet’s husband Baljinder and other family members were interviewed by investigators at the time and were “fully cooperative.” It wasn’t until four years later – in February 2011 – that police announced Bahia, Baranec and Athwal had been charged in the murder. While Bahia and Baranec are scheduled to go to trial beginning Feb. 1, 2016, Athwal’s trial is slated to start May 2.

SURREY – Three people accused of murdering an Indo-Canadian woman from Surrey in 2007 are scheduled to be tried separately next year – nine years after the killing.

Amanpreet Kaur Bahia, mother of three, was slain in her Surrey home in 2007 and her husband Baljinder Singh Bahia, as well a Surrey woman named Tanpreet Kaur Athwal and Burnaby’s Eduard Viktorovitch Baranec, are charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.

Police called Amanpreet’s murder “brutal” and “violent” when it happened in early February 2007. She was 33 when she was found dead in a pool of blood in her Newton home.

Amanpreet’s lifeless body was found in a pool of blood on the morning of Feb. 7, 2007 when some family members returned from an outing and found her with her youngest daughter in the downstairs suite of the two-storey green house near 125 Street and 58 Avenue.

The youngest two of her three young daughters were home at the time, left alone for three hours with their mother’s lifeless body, reported Surrey Leader newspaper.

Police said Amanpreet’s husband and other family members were interviewed by investigators at the time and were “fully cooperative.”

Police were unable to make a break in the case until the hitman allegedly hired by Baljinder Bahia came forward with the information.

It wasn’t until four years later – in February 2011 – that police announced Bahia, Baranec and Athwal had been charged in the murder.

Police revealed the husband had been a “person of interest” early on and that the investigation had been advanced in late 2010 by information provided by the Saskatchewan RCMP.

The trio was ordered to stand trial after a preliminary hearing of the evidence in Surrey Provincial Court in May 2012.

The trial was then scheduled to begin in January 2014, but was delayed.

Now, court records indicate there will be two separate juried trials for the accused murderers.

While Bahia and Baranec are scheduled to go to trial beginning Feb. 1, Athwal’s trial is slated to start May 2.

It’s believed both will trials will take place in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.