Gurpeet Kaur was found murdered in Quebec in 2007.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: Alleged murderer Harinder Singh Cheema, 36, one of Quebec, Canada’s 10 most wanted men, was arrested in San Francisco, on Wednesday, according to the Montreal police.
Cheema had been on the lam for more than seven years and was being sought on a second-degree murder charge in the death of his wife Gurpreet Kaur, who was 29 years old at the time of her death, according to Huffington Post Canada.
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The Montreal Gazette reported police learned that Cheema could be in the San Francisco area on June 26 and had been working with the bureau of external affairs from the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales to have him arrested by American authorities.
SF Gate reported a set of fingerprints on an immigration application led to the arrest in Fremont of Cheema.
Cheema was booked into Santa Clara County jail after he was arrested in his Fremont apartment at 4444 Central Ave. on July 2. On Wednesday, he waived extradition before a federal judge in San Jose and agreed to be returned to Canada to stand trial.
On Christmas day in 2007, police found Kaur’s body beaten, strangled and wrapped in bedsheets on the balcony outside the couple’s home on Deguire St. in St-Laurent. They lived with their small children, who were only three weeks and 18 months old at the time, reported the Gazette.
In the investigation, police discovered that Cheema had been seen leaving the apartment the morning of December 24. He dropped off his children dressed in only undershirts under their snowsuits at the home of Kaur’s best friend.
From there, police said he fled to Toronto, where he stayed with his lover before flying to Vancouver with a ticket she bought for him. Police also said he arrived in Canada on a fake passport while carrying a Russian driver’s licence.
On January 10, 2008, a nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest. Interpol issued a worldwide red notice for his arrest. The investigation was even featured that year on America’s Most Wanted, the now-defunct reality crime show. The case appeared on the Fox television show after an appeal by a Montreal detective.
The victim, Kaur, had been living in Canada for four years and was a permanent resident when she was killed. Cheema, an Indian citizen, does not have permanent resident status in Canada.
After Kaur’s body was found, her children were placed in foster care by child protection services, reported the Gazette.