TORONTO – A South Asian Toronto neurosurgeon has been charged with first-degree murder after the body of a woman, his wife, was discovered near a roadway in Kleinburg last Thursday afternoon.
Last Friday night, Toronto Police identified the victim as a 40-year-old female physician Elana Fric-Shamji from Toronto. Her husband Mohammed Shamji, 40, of Toronto was arrested and charged. He was taken into custody at a coffee shop in the area of Lakeshore Road East and Highway 10 in Mississauga.
The cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, police said, adding investigators believe she was killed in her home, located in North York, sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, December 1.
A suspect identified as Mohammed Shamji, 40, of Toronto was arrested and charged on Friday. Ryan said he was taken into custody at a coffee shop in the area of Lakeshore Road East and Highway 10 in Mississauga.
Elana Fric-Shamji was described as a “shining star” on track for a leadership role in the medical field by her colleagues and her boss.
Wearing a purple ribbon to honour victims of domestic violence, Dr. Larry Erlick, medical director of family medicine at The Scarborough Hospital, said Fric-Shamji was a “first-class family doctor” adored by both her patients and her co-workers.
“She was fantastic — she had that fire and potential to be a great leader,” Erlick said. “She was someone to model. She was always upbeat and always made people feel happy.”
Erlick, who recruited Fric-Shamji last year, said that she was as devoted to medical policy as she was to her practice, especially with issues surrounding health care for women, the underprivileged and refugees.
Fric-Shamji was also a respected member of the Ontario Medical Association’s policy committee. She earned her medical degree from the University of Ottawa and later graduated from Duke University’s master’s degree program in public policy.
The accused Mohammed Shamji, 40, is also world-renowned neurosurgeon. He made a brief court appearance on Saturday and has been returned to police custody.
Although Fric-Shamji’s friends and family have said the pair were having marital difficulties and there was an abusive relationship, none of that has been proved in court.
According to family and friends, the couple’s marriage was in trouble and Fric-Shamji had filed for divorce.
“She discussed things with me. There were issues,” Erlick said. “I know why, but that’s all I want to say about the matter.”
Erlick called Fric-Shamji a dedicated mother.
“She took them to school, picked them up … bathed them at night. [She] looked after the house and them,” he said.
The doctor’s three young children are in the care of a grandparent, her boss said.
Fric-Shamji’s sister, Carolina Lekic, called her “a nurturing mother” who was always involved in her children’s activities despite the demands of her work.
Growing up, Fric-Shamji was more of a bookworm, dedicated to school and to running, Lekic said. She became a lively woman, however, someone who was “smart, funny” and beloved by those in her circle of family and friends.
Those were among the things her family will pass on to Fric-Shamji’s children, Lekic said.
“Through these kids, we see her,” she said. “So there’s definitely always going to be the love and caring that my sister would want us to see carry throughout their lives.”
