On Oct. 18, 2006, Mukhtiar Panghali, a high school teacher from Surrey, British Columbia, killed his pregnant wife and burned her body. Manjit Panghali, an elementary school teacher, was just 31 when her husband strangled her to death in cold blood. It’s one of the most disturbing true crime stories in recent Canadian history.
Manjit had attended a yoga class on the night she was murdered, and Panghali claimed she never came home when he reported her missing to the police the following day. In reality, he had killed her the night before and set fire to her body on a South Delta shoreline next to a truck route, where it was discovered a few days later.
Panghali’s story about his wife going missing fell apart when it became apparent he had used his wife’s cellphone after her disappearance, which she had taken to the yoga class he claimed she never returned home from. He was also seen on CCTV buying a lighter on the night that his wife vanished, despite claiming he had not left his home at all that evening (per CTV).
Panghali was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder in Feb. 2011. His conviction carried a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 15 years.
However, having earlier granted him day parole in July 2022, the Parole Board of Canada granted him full parole in Oct. 2023, saying his release did not “present an undue risk” (per Global News). He now has full-time employment with an unnamed company.
What was the reason for this heinous crime?
According to the true crime website Oxygen, Panghali killed his wife out of jealousy, believing her to be having an affair.
Harj Sidhu, a sergeant with the Delta police department in British Columbia who interviewed Mukhtiar about his wife’s murder, is quoted as saying, “He says, ‘‘’I think she’s actually cheating on me with a high school friend of hers, Tony Phunal.’ Almost suggesting, ‘Yeah, she’s probably with Tony for all I know.”
It’s a notion backed up by Guy Leeson, another Delta PD sergeant who said, “It was our belief that he was jealous. He thought that she was having an affair. When she returned from yoga, there was some sort of confrontation. He lashed out, and he killed her.” May Manjit Panghali and her unborn baby rest in peace.