A Surrey man who strangled his pregnant wife and burned her body nearly six years ago has lost his murder conviction appeal.

Mukhtiar Singh Panghali, a former school teacher, was found guilty of the October 2006 second-degree murder of Manjit Panghali, 31.

The Crown’s case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence and on appeal, Panghali argued that there was not enough evidence of intent for a murder conviction.

Panghali argued that the court could acquit his client and order a new trial or substitute the murder conviction for a conviction of manslaughter, a lesser and included offence.

He claimed that the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Heather Holmes, had made a number of errors, including admitting evidence from a number of witnesses that he was the person caught in images at a convenience store on the night of the murder when he said he was at home.

Another alleged error was in finding that the burning of the body was proof of intent to murder.

But in a ruling released Tuesday, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice David Frankel dismissed Panghali’s arguments.

Frankel noted that from her own independent analysis, the judge concluded Panghali was the person in the store video.

And he said while the burning of the body alone may not be probative on the issue of intent, it is probative when considered with evidence of the strangulation.

“In my view, the totality of the evidence supports the inference that Ms. Panghali’s body was burned not just to conceal the fact that she had been killed, or to conceal evidence that might reveal who killed her, but to conceal the circumstances of the death.”

Frankel’s reasons for judgment were agreed to by Justice Harvey Groberman and Justice David Harris.

Manjit Panghali, who was also a school teacher, disappeared after a prenatal yoga class in south Surrey on Oct. 18, 2006. She was four months pregnant with her second child. Her charred remains were found five days later. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled.

Mukhtiar Panghali, who waited 26 hours before reporting his wife was missing, received the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 11 years.

kfraser@theprovince.com

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