B.C. court acquits man of manslaughter, finds him guilty of accessory in murder

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – A man accused of helping his friend kill a woman in Surrey, B.C., has been acquitted of manslaughter, but found guilty of being an accessory to the murder after the fact.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge in New Westminster said Friday that Gursimar Bedi’s rental of a Dodge Charger used as a get-away vehicle the night that Maple Batalia was killed was part of the reason for the guilty verdict on the accessory charge.

The 19-year-old Batalia was shot and killed in the parking lot of Simon Fraser University in September 2011.

Her ex-boyfriend, Gurjinder Dhaliwal, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve 21 years without parole.

Sgt. Stephanie Ashton, with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, says the verdict against Bedi should be a reminder that anyone who engages in crime, no matter what their role, will be held responsible.

Bedi, 26, will be in court on June 9 to set a date for sentencing.

Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year, admitting to killing his former girlfriend in the parking lot of the university’s Surrey campus after he saw her studying with a male classmate in September 2011. He was originally charged with first-degree murder.

An agreed statement of facts described how Dhaliwal became enraged and shot Batalia three times in the back before slashing her head with a knife before fleeing.

Batalia was an aspiring actress and model who moved with her family to Canada from India when she was six months old. She wanted to become a doctor and was studying health sciences at the time of her death.

(The Canadian Press, NEWS1130, CKNW)