Jury finds husband guilty in shooting death of wife in Scarborough

Three people have been convicted in the death of a woman killed in Scarborough, Ont., in March of 2020.

In a Toronto courtroom on Friday, jury members convicted three people, including the deceased’s husband, in the shooting death of 38-year-old Theepa Seevaratnam.

Seevaratnam, a wife and mother of two, was shot multiple times and died in the front foyer of her family’s home in Scarborough on March 13, 2020.

The shooter was a man who rang the doorbell, carrying a brown box, looking for her signature. Theepa’s mother, Leelavathi Seevaratnam answered the door and was also shot, but she survived.

Seevaratnam’s husband of 18 years, Vijendran Balasubramaniam was charged in her death.

On Friday, after two days of deliberation, a jury convicted Balasubramaniam of conspiracy to commit murder and first degree murder.

During the trial, the Crown argued that Balasubramianiam had hired a man named Steadley Kerr as a hitman to kill his wife.

On Friday, the jury found Kerr guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Also charged was Gary Samuel, who the jury was told was Kerr’s friend whom he had recruited to be the getaway driver and accomplice in the murder.

During the trial, the defence for Samuel argued that he did not know why he was driving the vehicle. The defence argued that Samuel did not know anyone would be harmed.

The Crown argued the two had developed a plan to rent a car to go to and from the murder scene and use a delivery box as a ruse to gain entry into the home.

On Friday, the jury found Samuel guilty of manslaughter in Seevaratnam’s death.

A woman, Ashley Owen — the mother of Kerr’s children — was also charged with being an accessory or providing asistance to Kerr after the murder. The jury found Owen not guilty on Friday and acquitted her of all charges.