32-year-old Gagandeep Sidhu will spend a significant amount of time behind bars in connection to the second degree murder of 26-year-old Monisha Sidhu, his wife, in the northeast community of Temple on Good Friday 2013.
On Friday, Sidhu was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
Defence lawyer Alain Hepner says his client’s parole eligibility could have been further postponed but the judge noted Sidhu’s remorse for his actions.
“(Sidhu) instructed me to get this moving as quick as possible to get this tendered so the judge says that's one indication of remorse,” said Hepner. “He also read a statement to the judge at the end realizing the impact over time and overcoming some certain psychological issues over time in remand, realized how horrible an act he had committed and read a statement to the judge which he obviously accepted."
On the morning of March 29, 2013, the couple was driving when an argument erupted. Monisha Sidhu attempted to exit the moving vehicle but became entangled in the seatbelt. The victim was dragged roughly 350 metres before her husband stopped the car.
A severely injured Monisha ran towards an apartment building near the 200 block of Templegreen Dr. N.E. with her husband pursuing her on foot. Gagandeep caught and strangled his wife, leaving Monisha’s lifeless body at the scene.
Sidhu was arrested after arriving at a nearby hospital for medical attention.
Sidhu’s sentence includes a lifetime weapons prohibition and a court recommendation for anger management and alcohol abuse counselling.
With files from CTV's Kevin Green
