A British Columbia man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the July 2003 stabbing death of his teenage daughter.

A jury deliberated for five hours before coming up with the guilty verdict Friday for Rajinder Singh Atwal, 48.

The verdict comes with an automatic life sentence. A hearing in June will determine when he will be eligible for parole.

Amandeep Atwal

During the trial, the Crown claimed the Kitimat man murdered his daughter, 17-year-old Amandeep Atwal, because he disapproved of her relationship with her high-school sweetheart, Todd McIsaac.

She had just told him that she wanted to move in with McIsaac, after hiding their relationship from him for three years because of their different ethnic backgrounds.

Amandeep's parents found out about McIsaac when the two were involved in a car accident.

The Crown said Atwal stabbed his daughter in a fit of rage as the pair drove back from a family vacation in the Lower Mainland. He then drove her to Langley Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

She had been stabbed 11 times.

Atwal told hospital officials that the girl had stabbed herself, intending to commit suicide.

But a pathologist testified some of the stab wounds were inflicted after death.

On the witness stand, McIsaac, 20, wept as he recalled his last conversation with Amandeep, when they talked about getting married.

That telephone call took place the day before she died.