Jagtar Gill's husband points finger at co-accused in murder trial
The Ottawa man accused of conspiring to kill his wife pointed his finger for the first time in his trial directly at his co-accused, suggesting she would know more about how the crime was committed.
Bhupinderpal Gill, 41, and Gurpreet Ronald, 37, are both accused of killing Jagtar Gill, a 43-year-old mother of three whose stabbed and bludgeoned body was found in the Gills' Barrhaven home on Jan. 29, 2014.
Both have pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder. Although they are being tried together, the co-defendants have separate legal teams.
The Crown alleges Ronald and Gill were having an affair and killed Jagtar so they could be together.
Bhupinderpal Gill was again in the witness box Wednesday, sparring with Crown lawyer Jason Neubauer over Gill's involvement in his wife's death.
Gill prepared bar for use as weapon, Crown accuses
In a calm voice Neubauer accused Gill more than a dozen times of conspiring with Ronald to plan his wife's murder.
"One thing you had to do to prepare for the killing was get the weapons ready for Gurpreet Ronald," said Neubauer.
"I never did something like that," Gill replied through a Punjabi interpreter.
Neubauer put his theory to Gill that it was his job to bring the weightlifting bar upstairs from the basement for Ronald to use as weapon.
The bar, which was later found with blood on it in a box in the basement, is a key piece of evidence for the Crown.
After police replaced it with a replica, investigators captured on surveillance video Gill retrieving it and stuffing it into his clothes. Officers then followed him to nearby woods where they watched him dispose of the bar.
'You should ask her who did it'
At one point on Wednesday Ontario Superior Court Justice Julianne Parfett and the 12-person jury watched as Neubauer had Gill put on a pair of blue latex gloves like the ones found at the crime scene and used them to take apart the bar.
Taking apart the bar involved unscrewing four collars around the weights and removing the weights themselves.
"That's fairly involved and takes significant effort," Neubauer observed.
Gill agreed but said he didn't remove the weights from the bar, adding, "You should ask her who did it."
"Who?" Neubauer shot back.
"Gurpreet," said Gill.
"Why should I ask her?" the Crown lawyer responded.
"Because her DNA is there," said Gill.
Court previously heard that blood matching Ronald's DNA was found on the rug next to Jagtar Gill's body, in the kitchen, the upstairs hallway and upstairs bathroom in the Gill home.
Neubauer said whoever killed Jagtar Gill went to a lot of time and effort to dismantle the weightlifting bar.
"This question should be asked to her not me," repeated Gill.
The trial resumes Thursday.
