Accused pleads guilty in Maple Batalia’s murder
Jealous ex-boyfriend shot and slashed SFU student
The ex-boyfriend of murdered Surrey university student Maple Batalia has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with her shooting death more than four years ago.
There were gasps in the New Westminster courtroom as Gurjinder (Gary) Dhaliwal, 24, entered the plea Thursday, which was supposed to be the first day of his trial on a charge of firstdegree murder.
Crown prosecutor Wendy Stephen told the court that Crown and defence are jointly seeking 21 years until Dhaliwal is eligible for parole. The sentencing hearing will continue Monday with victim impact statements from Batalia’s family.
Outside court, Stephen said it was a “very good day” for the administration of justice.
Batalia’s parents declined to speak to media outside court.
According to an agreed statement of facts that Stephen read in court, Dhaliwal and Batalia had an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted about four years. When Batalia discovered that Dhaliwal had been unfaithful, she broke up with him in August 2011.
“Mr. Dhaliwal did not want to break up and attempted to reconcile with her,” Stephen said.
Between Aug. 15 and Sept. 24, Dhaliwal used two cellphones to send 1,719 text messages and make 2,328 calls to Batalia. During the same 40-day period, Batalia sent a few texts, phoned Dhaliwal on occasion and met with him a few times.
Early on Sept. 16, as Batalia and some friends left a Surrey nightclub, Dhaliwal confronted her. When she refused to go with him, he got into an altercation with two young men in her group, pushing one and spitting in the face of another. Batalia was upset and in tears.
On Sept. 23, Batalia texted Dhaliwal, said the relationship was over and told him not to contact her. Over the next 16 hours, he called and texted her 243 times. The last phone contact between the two took place on Sept. 24, the day of an incident at a Tim Hortons involving Dhaliwal, Batalia and a male friend of hers.
Dhaliwal showed up at the restaurant and asked who the male was and what they were doing there. Batalia tried to calm Dhaliwal down but he hit Batalia’s friend in the face.
Batalia went with Dhaliwal for a short drive, during which he tried to persuade her to reconcile. She refused, and when he brought her back to her car he tried to take her cellphone. There was a struggle and Batalia fell, scraping her elbows.
Following the incident, Dhaliwal was arrested and released on an undertaking not to contact Batalia or her friend.
Shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 25, Dhaliwal and his friend Gursimar Bedi went to a car rental agency, where Bedi allegedly rented a white Dodge Charger. Dhaliwal then went to the mall and bought a knife. He had previously bought a handgun.
Stephen said Dhaliwal bought the weapons so that he could confront Batalia’s male friend if he saw them together.
On the evening of Sept. 26, Dhaliwal and Bedi went to Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus — where Batalia was a health sciences student — in the rented car.
Dhaliwal wanted to see if Batalia and her male friend were together and allegedly asked Bedi to go in and see if they were there. Bedi reported by cellphone that Batalia was there, but her friend was not. Dhaliwal left without incident.
The next evening, Dhaliwal went to the school again and asked Bedi to be the lookout. Bedi reported that Batalia and her male friend were there. Dhaliwal waited outside to confront Batalia’s friend.
After they finished studying at about 1 a.m. they went to the parking lot, where they hugged and parted ways. Dhaliwal saw the hug and became “enraged.”
Dhaliwal drove the car forward and fired five shots, three of which hit Batalia in the torso and arm. Batalia collapsed, Dhaliwal got out of the car and slashed the top and back of her head with a knife. He then got into the rental car and drove away.
Batalia, 19, was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital, where she died.
The day after the shooting, police seized the rental car. A forensic examination found a shell casing under the hood of the car, Batalia’s blood on the driver’s side visor mirror and headlight control, and gunshot residue on the steering wheel. The shell casing matched those found at the scene of the shooting.
Dhaliwal was arrested on Nov. 30, 2012 and charged the next day. He provided a statement to police on Dec. 3, during which he admitted some of his actions.
Bedi, 26, is charged with manslaughter with a firearm and with being an accessory to murder after the fact. His trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.