The fourth and final man charged with a 2009 hit-and-run murder in Abbotsford pleaded guilty today (Tuesday) in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
Gurpreet Atwal, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kulwinder Gill, 42.
Kulwinder had been out for a walk with her husband, Iqbal Gill, on April 27, 2009, when she was struck by a pickup truck in the rural area of Townshipline and Bell roads, east of Highway 11, in Abbotsford.
Responding officers were flagged down by her husband, who led them to a water-filled ditch, where Kulwinder had been thrown by the impact.
A suspect vehicle with signs of damage was seized by police on acreage several blocks away.
The incident was initially believed to be a hit-and-run collision, but police soon began investigating it as a suspicious death.
Gill, Atwal and two other men – Sukhpal Johal and Jaspreet Sohi – were charged in April 2013.
READ MORE: Charges laid in 2009 murder of Kulwinder Gill of Abbotsford
Sohi, 33, of Surrey pleaded guilty in October 2015 to a charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact and was sentenced to time served plus one day in jail. A first-degree murder charge was stayed.
Johal, 32, of Surrey pleaded guilty in June 2016, also to a conspiracy charge, and received a 10-year sentence. After he was give double credit for time already served, he was left with three and a half years in prison.
Gill, 55, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to conspiracy to commit murder and received a 10-year sentence, after being granted seven years credit for time served.
READ MORE: Man involved in hit-and-run murder of wife sentenced to 10 years
Evidence so far presented in court has been under a publication ban because Atwal’s trial – which had initially been scheduled to take place last month – had not yet taken place.
Atwal’s sentencing hearing is slated to take place Aug. 27.
