‘I’m so sorry we don’t have the death penalty in this country because Mohammed Shamji deserves death for what he did’ – Victim’s mother after sentencing
Toronto neurosurgeon, 43, who strangled his physician wife, 40, stuffed her body into a suitcase and left it by a river days after she filed for divorce is sentenced to life in prison
Mohammed Shamji, 43, pled guilty to second-degree murder last month
He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars with no chance of parole for 14 years on Thursday
Mohammed, then 40, killed his physician wife Elana Fric-Shamji, then 40, in 2016 after an argument
Mohammed, a student of jiu jitsu, had inflicted a battery of injuries on his wife, including breaking her neck, 20 blunt force impacts to her head, and 22 to her limbs
The Toronto neurosurgeon then stuffed her body into a suitcase and left it by the Humber river, days after she filed for divorce
The court was told Mohammed Shamji broke his wife’s neck and ribs and choked her to death as their three children slept nearby
Fric-Shamji had filed for divorce two days before her death after alleging their 12-year marriage was marred by domestic violence
The savage murder sent shock waves through the Toronto medical community where the couple were highly regarded doctors
Healer turned brutal killer: Mohammed Shamji [left] pled guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife, Elana Fric Shamji [right], who was found dead in a suitcase in Vaughan, Ontario in 2016
A Toronto based neurosurgeon who pled guilty to strangling his wife and stuffing her body in a suitcase which he left by a river in 2016, has received the maximum punishment for his crime.
The defendant who made his admission in the three-year-old crime, just days before his trial was due to begin was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years.
Mohammed Shamji, 43, entered a guilty plea to the second-degree murder of Elana Fric-Shamji, 40, at a Toronto, Canada, courthouse in April.
Sentencing him Justice John McMahon said the case is yet another tragic instance of domestic homicide that he sees far too often.
The court heard that Mohammed Shamji broke his wife’s neck and ribs and choked her to death as their three children slept nearby.
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The defendant who made his admission in the three-year-old crime, just days before his trial was due to begin was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years.
Mohammed Shamji, 43, entered a guilty plea to the second-degree murder of Elana Fric-Shamji, 40, at a Toronto, Canada, courthouse in April.
Sentencing him Justice John McMahon said the case is yet another tragic instance of domestic homicide that he sees far too often.
The court heard that Mohammed Shamji broke his wife’s neck and ribs and choked her to death as their three children slept nearby.
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Judge McMahon credited the defendant for his last-minute guilty plea, which saved his young daughter from testifying., but he condemned him for the savage and brutal murder.
After the sentencing the victim’s dissatisfied mother, justice wasn’t done: “I’m so sorry we don’t have the death penalty in this country because Mohammed Shamji deserves death for what he did,” Ana Fric said .
After the sentencing the victim’s dissatisfied mother, justice wasn’t done: “I’m so sorry we don’t have the death penalty in this country because Mohammed Shamji deserves death for what he did,” Ana Fric said .
Victim Dr Elana Fric-Shamji [left]worked as a family doctor at the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital in Toronto. Her ‘killer’ husband, Mohammed [right], was a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital
A statement read out in court said Shamji killed his wife, then 40, during an argument. She had filed for divorce two days earlier.
Fric-Shamji claimed she had been a victim of domestic violence during their 12-year marriage.
The neurosurgeon, who has been in custody since his arrest on December 2, 2016, stuffed his wife’s body into a suitcase where it was discovered dumped the next day by a passer-by near the Humber River in the southern Ontario city of Vaughan.
The court heard that Fric, 40, a well-loved family physician at Scarborough Hospital and a key member of the Ontario Medical Association’s policy committee, died of strangulation and blunt force trauma sometime between the evening of Nov. 30 and the morning of Dec. 1, 2016.

Her husband Mohammed, a student of jiu jitsu, had inflicted a battery of injuries, including breaking her neck, 20 blunt force impacts to her head, and 22 to her limbs.
Shamji then stuffed her body in a suitcase that he threw in the Humber River, near Kleinberg.
Shamji was arrested at a coffee shop in Mississauga a day after her body was found.


Speaking outside the courthouse after his guilty plea, Ana Fric, Elana’s mother, said: ‘Justice will never befall us. The only justice we will ever have is if she will come back — and she will never come back.’
News of the murder and Shamji’s complicity was met with shock in the Toronto area at the time, particularly within the medical community.
The Shamjis were highly regarded doctors whose marriage produced three children.
Fric-Shamji claimed she had been a victim of domestic violence during their 12-year marriage.
The neurosurgeon, who has been in custody since his arrest on December 2, 2016, stuffed his wife’s body into a suitcase where it was discovered dumped the next day by a passer-by near the Humber River in the southern Ontario city of Vaughan.
The court heard that Fric, 40, a well-loved family physician at Scarborough Hospital and a key member of the Ontario Medical Association’s policy committee, died of strangulation and blunt force trauma sometime between the evening of Nov. 30 and the morning of Dec. 1, 2016.

Her husband Mohammed, a student of jiu jitsu, had inflicted a battery of injuries, including breaking her neck, 20 blunt force impacts to her head, and 22 to her limbs.
Shamji then stuffed her body in a suitcase that he threw in the Humber River, near Kleinberg.
Shamji was arrested at a coffee shop in Mississauga a day after her body was found.


Speaking outside the courthouse after his guilty plea, Ana Fric, Elana’s mother, said: ‘Justice will never befall us. The only justice we will ever have is if she will come back — and she will never come back.’
News of the murder and Shamji’s complicity was met with shock in the Toronto area at the time, particularly within the medical community.
The Shamjis were highly regarded doctors whose marriage produced three children.
Mohammed Shamji [seen left with the spouse he was accuse of killing] was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The two Duke Univ. alums posted pictures on social media suggesting a happy couple. However, Fric-Shamji claimed their marriage was marked by domestic violence
Tragic victim of domestic battery: Elana Fric-Shamji [L-R], worked as a family doctor at the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital in Toronto. Fric served her husband with divorce papers on Nov. 28, 2016.
Fric-Shamji worked as a family doctor at the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital in Toronto.
Before his arrest, Shamji was a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital and a faculty member at the University of Toronto.
They both had advanced degrees from Duke University in the US.
Witnesses reported hearing the couple arguing at their home on the night of the killing.
Law enforcement officials alleged that Fric-Shamji was hit with a blunt force object in the couple’s garage.
Neighbors told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Elana Fric-Shamji had filed for divorce from her husband and that she was in ‘good spirits’ in the days leading up to her death because she was ‘looking toward her new life’.
They both had advanced degrees from Duke University in the US.
Witnesses reported hearing the couple arguing at their home on the night of the killing.
Law enforcement officials alleged that Fric-Shamji was hit with a blunt force object in the couple’s garage.
Neighbors told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Elana Fric-Shamji had filed for divorce from her husband and that she was in ‘good spirits’ in the days leading up to her death because she was ‘looking toward her new life’.
The couple’s 12-year marriage produced three children seen here with Mohammed. The oldest was set to testify against her dad before his surprise guilty plea last month. Two were in court to hear their father plead guilty
Police believe Shamji [left] killed his wife Elana [right] in the couple’s garage after an argument. The neurosurgeon broke his wife’s neck and ribs and choked her to death as their three children slept nearby, the court heard
The victim’s mother, Ana Fric , ‘Justice will never befall us. The only justice we will ever have is if she will come back — and she will never come back.’
At the time of the killing, the couple’s children – Yasmin now 14, Faiza, 11, and five-year-old Marius, were placed in the care of her maternal grandparents.
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