Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Surrey/North Delta Leader 3
Trial for trio charged in Surrey mom’s murder
Not guilty plea from accused Surrey rioter Alicia Price faces three charges by Sheila Reynolds
Amanpreet Kaur Bahai’s husband and two others accused of first-degree murder in 33-year-old’s 2007 slaying
A SURREY woman accused of
by Sheila Reynolds THREE PEOPLE charged with the 2007 murder of a Surrey mother of three
have been ordered to stand trial. Amanpreet Kaur Bahia’s body was found in a pool of blood in her home near 125 Street and 58 Avenue more than five years ago by family members who had returned from an outing. Police described the death as a “brutal, violent attack.” Two of her three young daughters were home when the murder occurred, left to fend for themselves for several hours while their mother lay dead. It wasn’t until last year that Amanpreet’s husband Baljinder Singh Bahia, 41, was arrested, along with two others: 33-year-old Eduard Viktorovitch Baranec and Tanpreet Kaur Athwal, 42. All three were charged with firstdegree murder. In laying charges last year, police revealed that Bahia’s husband was identified as a “person of interest” early in the investigation. In December 2010, investigators from the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crime Historical Case Unit - South provided investigators with new information that assisted in advancing the investigation, said police. The trial was ordered Tuesday (May 15) after a short preliminary hearing that began the day before in Surrey Provincial Court. The trio’s case will now proceed to B.C. Supreme Court. A trial date has not been set.
Police described the death as a “brutal, violent attack.”
sreynolds@surreyleader.com
FELICITY DON ILLUSTRATION
Baljinder Singh Bahia, Eduard Viktorovitch Baranec and Tanpreet Kaur Athwal have been ordered to stand trial for first-degree murder in the killing of Surrey’s Amanpreet Kaur Bahia (top).
lighting a police car on fire during last year’s Stanley Cup riot has pleaded not guilty. Alicia Price, 22, was charged in December with taking part in a riot, mischief to property over $5,000 and arson damaging property. On Wednesday (May 16) in Vancouver Provincial Court, she pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Her next trial date is not until March of next year, when a pre-trial conference is scheduled, and her trial isn’t slated to begin until September 2013. Websites that sprung up to identify alleged rioters after the June 2011 incident identified a woman on a YouTube video as Price. In the shaky video, it appears a young woman with bleach-blond hair and a lip piercing leans inside the back seat of a police car, holding a lit lighter to the upholstery and what looks to be a crumpled piece of paper. Price has no prior criminal record. Crown prosecutors have now charged a total of 91 people with riot-related offences.
sreynolds@surreyleader.com
– with files from Jeff Nagel
Fire crews: Held back due to bomb danger From page 1 The ex fired a shot into the ceiling of the home and ordered everyone out except the woman. Homes within a 200-metre radius – approximately 20 in all – were evacuated. Residents were offered temporary shelter at Interior Savings Centre. Just after 7 p.m., police contacted the gunman by phone. An hour later, neighbours reported seeing the man closing the home’s blinds. At about 8:30 p.m., a Kelowna-based RCMP emergency response team – equivalent to a municipal police force’s SWAT team – arrived at the scene and set up a command post in the parking lot of a nearby strip mall. Learned said police maintained phone contact with the gunman throughout the incident, and learned the man was distraught about his break-up with the hostage two years earlier. The man also said he had wired explosives to the gas tank of his vehicle, and at one point told officers he would walk out of the home with the hostage handcuffed to him and a bomb switch in his hand. He said the bomb would detonate if police shot him. He did not exit the home, but held the woman hostage for more than six hours, releasing her at midnight after a lengthy phone conversation with an RCMP negotiator. DAVE EAGLES PHOTO Learned said the woman was physically unharmed. Not long after that, at 12:09 a.m., a series of bangs could be Neigbours view the aftermath of Thursday heard, followed by an audible groaning noise. night’s standoff in Kamloops, which left a Learned said those explosions occurred at the same time Surrey man dead and a house in ashes.
the RCMP negotiator “abruptly” lost contact with the gunman. Flames could then be seen inside the home, beginning on the main floor but quickly spreading to the rest of the house. A short time later, another explosion rocked the neighbourhood. The fire was under control by 1 a.m., but the home was destroyed. Learned said officers confirmed there was a bomb in the vehicle the gunman drove to the home. Once the fire scene was stabilized, bomb squad officers used a robot to safely remove and neutralize the explosive device. Technicians from the Explosive Demolition Unit (EDU) noted that if the bomb had exploded, there would likely have been fatalities and serious injuries for anyone in the immediate area. aLearned praised Kamloops Fire Rescue crews, who were forced to hold off battling the blaze for 30 minutes because of the potential of further explosions. “The house was lost, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “But, houses can be replaced and lives can’t be.” Neighbour Paul Zaetsoff, who lives a block away from the house, said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing in the usually quiet neighbourhood. “It is really bizarre,” he said. “It’s very sad to see this so close to home. This is actually unbelievable that it’s happening here.” tim@kamloopsthisweek.com