Warning: Some of the details in this story are disturbing
A Toronto neurosurgeon accused of violently killing his physician wife in a case that shocked the city pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Toronto courtroom Monday.
The body of 40-year-old Dr. Elana Fric-Shamji was discovered in a suitcase by a passerby in a wooded area in Kleinberg back in December 2016. An autopsy found that she died of strangulation and blunt-force trauma to the head.
Her husband, Dr. Mohammed Shamji was arrested at a coffee shop at Lakeshore Road East and Highway 10 in Mississauga a day later.
In an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court Monday, Shamji admitted that he struck his wife multiple times after the two got into an argument in the bedroom of their home in the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue area on Nov. 30 while their three children were asleep. The argument came two days after she filed divorce papers.
According to the document, Fric-Shamji suffered injuries all over her body – including a broken neck and ribs – before her husband choked her to death.
The couple’s 11-year-old daughter woke up and heard banging, then heard her mother scream, and then heard silence. The girl went to her parents’ bedroom to investigate and was ordered back to bed by her father.
Shamji then stuffed his wife’s body in a suitcase and drove north of the city, where he dumped the suitcase in the Humber River.
The court heard Monday that Shamji then carried on with his daily routines, including performing surgeries the next day.
He lied about his wife’s whereabouts and planted phone messages to try and implicate her lover.
After his arrest, Shamji was charged with first-degree murder and committing an indignity to human remains. He has been in custody since.
According to colleagues, Fric-Shamji was a “talented” family doctor who was dedicated to improving the health-care system.
Shamji was a noted neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital, who also held a position as Professor of Surgery at The University of Toronto.
The couple had three children together, who are now in the custody of their maternal grandparents.
Lawyer Jean DeMarco, who represents the Fric family, said that while the family did not want the children to be in court for their father’s guilty plea Monday, the eldest daughter was “fairly adamant” that she be in the courtroom.
Both of the daughters – now 14 and 12 years old – appeared in court with the grandparents. At one point, one daughter became emotional and left the courtroom in tears.
DeMarco said the family has mostly stayed silent due to a custody battle and civil suit that each stretched on for about a year.
“I can tell you that they did support the plea. Although it was the Crown’s decision, they did support the plea.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Fric-Shamji's mother, Ana Fric, said her family will never feel as though justice has been served.
"Justice will never be for us. Never. The only justice we will have is if she can come back and she will never come back," she said.
Sentencing has been scheduled for May 8.
History of abuse
The two doctors married in 2004.
Shamji’s guilty plea states that the marriage was “volatile and dysfunctional,” and included reports of physical, verbal and emotional abuse toward his wife.
In May 2016, Fric-Shamji tried to leave the marriage, initiating divorce proceedings. However Shamji pleaded for reconciliation and convinced her to give him time to change, a request she agreed to.
However the marriage continued to deteriorate that year and the two butted heads over whether to get a divorce.
In October, Fric-Shamji began an affair with another doctor and formally retained a divorce lawyer.
Shamji again pleaded for more time, for the sake of the children and the upcoming holidays. Again, his wife agreed.
But soon afterward, he learned about her affair and he was formally served with divorce papers on Nov. 28.
Things then became “volatile” in the family’s home, with Shamji “imposing himself” on his wife in an effort to change her mind, court heard.
The tensions finally culminated in the violent argument that led to Fric-Shamji’s death.
“This is a classic case of domestic violence,” said CP24 Crime Specialist Steve Ryan, a former Toronto homicide detective who led the investigation before leaving the force. “There was a history of abuse that led up to this homicide.”
Ryan said that the case demonstrates that travelling in well-educated, professional circles does not insulate one from the possibility of abuse.
“It just goes to show you that domestic violence affects people from all walks of life,” Ryan said.
He said first-degree murder tends to be difficult to prove and would have forced the victim’s daughter to provide difficult testimony against her father in open court in addition to having already provided a full day of testimony at the preliminary inquiry.
“I think it’s a good day in that sense in regards to the overall verdict,” Ryan said.
He said Shamji’s guilty plea could result in a more lenient sentence.
“He may get the 18-year range for that,” Ryan said. “He’s got to get some credit for taking responsibility. He doesn’t force his daughters to testify against him, and he prevents the family from having to listen to all that evidence.”
In Canada, second-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole for anywhere between 10 and 25 years.
