A man charged with the 1986 murder of his wife will have to wait another two weeks for arraignment.
Justice of the Peace Dalene Krenz granted a two-week adjournment in Paramjit Singh Bogarh’s matter in Vernon Law Courts Thursday, Sept. 20. He will appear next in provincial courtroom 201 for arraignment Oct. 4 at 9 a.m.
“The Crown is asking for this matter to go over two weeks for some additional disclosure to deal with that and other matters,” said crown prosecutor Ann Katrine Saettler.
Bogarh is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiring to commit murder relating to the New Year’s Eve 1986 death of his spouse Saminder Kaur Bogarh.
He was denied bail by now-retired Justice Frank Cole June 29. Due to a court-ordered publication ban, the details arising from that hearing cannot be disclosed.
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“This is a very old case and the evidence against him is very scant,” defence Russ Chamberlain told The Morning Star in a May 2018 interview. “Based on the intel I received from the Crown, it’s a weak case and the accused professes his innocence.”
Chamberlain also represented Paramjit and his brother Narindar Singh Bogarh, who faces the same charges, in 1987 when arrests were first made.
According to a Jan. 3, 1987 article in the Vernon Daily News, Murder charges stayed, a then 25-year-old Paramjit was charged with second-degree murder on New Year’s Day and was scheduled to appear in court Jan. 2 in relation to his wife’s murder.
However, instead of appearing in court Paramjit, who was a janitor, was released that afternoon when the Crown entered a stay-of-proceedings.
“RCMP Staff-Sgt. Jim Wilson told the Daily News there wasn’t the evidence to support the second-degree murder charge,” the article reads.
At the time of the incident, RCMP said the woman suffered several stab wounds and was found in the bathroom of their home in Vernon. There were three people in the house at that time: Saminder Kaur Bogarh, Paramjit Singh Bogarh and a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who was later taken into the care of the Human Resources Ministry.
Dr. Bill Currie, a forensic pathologist assigned to the case, confirmed that the victim suffered stab wounds to the neck, hands, arms and legs.
Only two articles regarding the incident appeared in the Daily News in January 1987 — Stabbing death investigated Jan. 2 and Murder charges stayed Jan. 3.
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The BC Prosecution Service is currently pursuing Narinder’s extradition from India.
None of the charges against either man has been proven in court.
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