A man connected with an old Vernon murder case has been released on full parole less than a year after he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Paramjit Singh Bogarh’s pregnant wife, Saminder Kaur Bogarh, was stabbed to death in Vernon on New Year’s Eve in 1986.
According to court documents, Bogarh was a fugitive expedited back to Canada in 2018 on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In March last year, Bogarh admitted that he helped his brother Narinder Bogarh escape to India after the killing and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory after the fact. The other charges against him were dropped.
Narinder Bogarh is accused of murder and conspiracy to commit murder but the allegations against him have not been proven in court.
Paramjit Bogarh was sentenced to five years in prison, but with credit for time already served, he had about two years remaining on his sentence.
According to parole board documents, Bogarh was released on full parole in November.
It’s not clear where he is now.
Parole board documents say he was given a deportation order for India.
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He was also told that Canadian officials planned to release him to the U.S., where officials wouldn’t say whether they planned to detain him until that time came.
After his first wife’s fatal stabbing in 1986, Bogarh fled Canada and went on to build a life in California.
According to extradition documents, in 1999, Bogarh was confronted about rumours of Saminder’s murder at a Sikh temple.
He then allegedly stood up and confessed, according to Canadian officials cited in the American extradition documents.
Bogarh refutes that claim, and it was never proven in court.
Extradition documents also suggest that Bogarh’s toddler son told RCMP at the time of the murder something to the effect of, “Daddy hit mommy with a knife and blood came out.”
But Bogarh denies that.
No official American or Canadian agencies will confirm Bogarh’s current whereabouts.
The parole board said that Bogarh has access to large amounts of money in Canada, the U.S. and India.
The documents also noted that if Bogarh does get deported to India, which appears to be what he was planning, that he has a home there.
The parole board said Bogarh told his caseworkers that his second wife and son, who currently live in the U.S., would move to India with him.
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