The two men accused in a double-shooting outside a Whistler hotel no longer each face two counts of first-degree murder. Just before the Crown began its closing argument on Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper informed the jury that the indictment had been revised. Tanvir Khakh has been acquitted of first-degree murder in relation to the death of Satindera Gill. He still faces one count of first-degree murder for the death of Meninder Dhaliwahl. Gursimran Sahota, Khakh’s co-accused, has had his charge in relation to the death of Gill downgraded to second-degree murder. He also still faces a charge of first-degree murder for the death of Dhaliwahl. Crown alleges the two accused lay in wait outside the Sundial Hotel in Whistler just after noon on July 24, 2022–before using two handguns to open fire on the victims. Both Gill and Dhaliwahl would die as a result of gunshot wounds. A witness testified that she saw a man with a silver gun getting into a Honda CRV immediately after the shooting. The same witness provided police with a cellphone video, shot from a nearby hotel balcony, allegedly showing the same car driving away from the scene of the shooting. Nine minutes later, a woman called 911 to report a car fire a short distance away. According to testimony heard in court, the burned vehicle was a light-coloured Honda CRV which had been stolen in the Lower Mainland more than three months before the shooting. A witness to the fire told responding police officers he saw two men getting into a Chrysler 200 and leaving the area as the fire began. Sahota and Khakh were arrested 37 minutes after the shooting after being pulled over by Squamish RCMP while travelling south on Highway 99 in a black Chrysler 200 sedan. The Crown played CCTV video of the shooting, alleging the clothing and shoes worn by the masked shooters matched those worn by the accused at the time of their arrests. Prosecutors also reminded the jury a DNA expert who tested blood spots on the same clothes and shoes worn by the accused testified it was a likely match to one of the victims. Dr. Laurie Karchewski told the court there was only a one-in-5.6-quintillion chance the blood splatter came from somebody other than Dhaliwahl. “You can reasonably infer that the presence of Mr. Dhaliwal’s blood on the clothing of Mr. Sahota and Mr. Khakh suggest that is they who are the two shooters who stood directly over him,” Crown prosecutor Don Montrichard told the jury. The court heard both accused also tested positive for gunshot residue on both of their hands and their faces. Referencing the CCTV video, Montrichard alleged the shooters were “almost entirely focused” on Dhaliwahl—and reminded the jury a witness described the killing as an execution. Admissions of Fact entered into evidence during the trial state that Gill was shot twice. One shot, fired by a Smith and Wesson .45 caliber handgun, entered Gill’s buttock and lodged in his thigh. According to the admissions, the other shot came from a .40 calibre Sig Sauer handgun and entered Gill’s abdomen before coming to rest in his hip. The Crown alleges this was the fatal shot, and Montrichard told the jury the Crown’s theory is that Sahota fired that shot. In testimony, police told the court the recovered bullets were tested and determined to have been fired from two weapons found in the burned wreckage of the Honda CRV. Bullets recovered from the body of Dhaliwahl, who was shot several times, also matched the same two weapons, according to the Crown. The defense will present its closing arguments on Thursday. Then the judge will give the jury their instructions and they will begin deliberating on whether the Crown has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
