Man who murdered Abbotsford mother in staged hit and run sentenced to 21 years in prison

An Abbotsford man has been handed a 21 year prison sentence for his role in an elaborate and violent murder-for-hire plot after he admitted to driving a pickup truck into Kulwinder Kaur Gill on Townshipline Road in Abbotsford in April, 2009.

Gurpreet Singh Atwal, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in May of 2018. 

On Monday the judge ruled five years and two months will be taken off his sentence as credit for the time he has already spent in custody.

Atwal hit the 42 year old mother of two so hard with the vehicle that she was sent flying about 30 metres into a ditch.

Atwal's hands trembled and his voice shook as he read a brief apology to the victim's family at his sentencing hearing Monday.

"Every time I look in the mirror, I am reminded of my mistakes," he said.

"My actions were reckless and irresponsible."

Murder Conspiracy

Kulwinder Gill's husband, Iqbal, was facing a number of expensive civil suits and his blueberry farm was facing foreclosure in 2009, according to an agreed statement of facts.

That's around the time Iqbal and Kulwinder Gill each took out a $3 million life insurance policy.

Atwal knew Iqbal Gill through the local Sikh temple and called him 'uncle' out of respect.

Gill made Atwal an offer — if he killed his wife, Atwal would be paid $50,000 after the life insurance money was collected.

Atwal accepted the deal and the pair hatched a plan to kill Kulwinder Gill in a staged a hit and run crash.

On April 28, 2009, Iqbal and Kulwinder Gill drove from their home to their blueberry farm where they went for a walk.

Kulwinder was about 30 metres behind her husband when Atwal drove up from behind and crashed into her.

Atwal drove off, ditched the truck and met up with two friends, Sukhpal Singh Johal and Jaspreet Singh Sohi, who picked him up in a rented car.

Iqbal called 911 and led police to the ditch where Kulwinder was lying unresponsive.

Police identified Iqbal as a suspect in his wife's homicide and launched a lengthy undercover investigation.

Sentencing

In 2015 Sohi pleaded guilty to a charge of being an accessory to murder and was sentenced to time served after being credited for 1,386 days.

Johal was sentenced in 2016 for conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to the equivalent of 10 years. After credit for 6 ½ years for pre-sentence time served, he was sentenced to an additional 3 ½ years in jail. 

Iqbal Gill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced in November, 2017 to 17 years in prison. He received seven years credit for time served.