VANCOUVER – Three people have been charged in connection with the 2007 murder of Amanpreet Kaur Bahia of Surrey.
Bahia’s husband, Baljinder Singh Bahia, 41, a woman named Tanpreet Kaur Athwal, 42, and a man named Eduard Viktorovitch Baranec, 33, have been charged with murder, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
They are due in Surrey Provincial Court Monday.
Bahia, a 33-year-old mother of three young girls, was murdered in her Newton home on Feb. 7, 2007, in what police at the time called a “brutal, violent attack.”
Two of her three children were at home at the time of her death, including a one-year-old who was found sitting on her body.
Didar Singh, Bahia’s father-in law, who also lived in the home with his wife, had discovered Bahia’s body at around 11:30 a.m.
Bahia’s cousin Harpal Sandhu said Athwal, a realtor for Century 21, had helped the couple list a Surrey property.
A person also named Edward Baranec has had brushes with the law in Saskatoon, having been charged with aggravated assault in August 2007 and linked to the disappearance of 15-year-old Katelyn Noble, with whom he had briefly lived.
A homicide detective first told family of the arrests on Friday night.
“Everybody’s been sad for the last three days,” said Parminder Chohan, Bahia’s uncle.
Bahia’s family said while the news is hard to swallow, it will help provide closure, four years after Bahia’s grisly murder.
“Maybe Amanpreet’s soul is now is at peace,” Sandhu said. “Before, I was thinking maybe she doesn’t have peace because no one knew what happened with her.”
“We are shattered to hear it,” Chohan said. “But on the other side, we are happy they have got the people.”
Sandhu described Bahia as an excellent mother and an incredibly hard worker, known to drive every employee home each day after working on the Cloverdale farm she and Baljinder owned.
"Everybody knows how good she is," Bahia said. "I don’t think she was ever mad at anybody. God gave her a big heart. I don’t know why they would kill her."
Bahia’s three children, who lived with Baljinder until his arrest, are now staying with grandparents, Johal said.
Police confirmed Sunday night arrests have been made in the case but would not provide further details until a news conference scheduled for Monday morning.
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