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Samra shot 'enemies,' trial told Jury hears final legal arguments; Gary Oakes Toronto Star. Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Dec 14, 1993. Sec. B. pg. A.18
Kuldip Singh Samra deliberately killed two men and permanently paralyzed a third in a Toronto courtroom a decade ago when a judge ruled against him in a civil suit, a jury has been told.
Prosecutor Uriel Priwes said yesterday the motive for the shootings was revenge against Samra's "mortal enemies" - those who stood in his way.
But Samra's legal adviser, Munyonzwe Hamalengwa, argued that Samra was in a deep depression at the time and actually intended to kill himself in the courtroom.
Samra went into a trance, "exploded" and turned on the victims when one of them made a rude and insulting gesture at him, Hamalengwa said.
Samra, 47, is on trial in Ontario Court, general division, charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder as a result of the deaths of Oscar Fonseca and Bhupinder Pannu and the wounding of Amarjit Tatla.
Mr. Justice Edward Then will deliver his final legal instructions to the jurors tomorrow 1before they retire to consider their verdict.
The shootings took place in Osgoode Hall on March 18, 1982, immediately after a judge ruled against Samra in a civil case arising from a dispute over elections for a Sikh temple.
Tatla and Pannu were on the other side of the dispute and Fonseca was their lawyer.
After the shootings, Samra fled to India, where he was eventually arrested and returned to Canada.
Priwes told the jury Samra had "undying hatred" for those who opposed him and, when the judge's ruling went against him, he "turned a courtroom into a shooting gallery . . . a charnel house."
Samra "revelled in having done it," the prosecutor added.
The prosecutor said the shootings amounted to Samra saying to his enemies, "Damn you and damn your lawyer."
Priwes called Samra's 10-week murder trial "a cry for justice" for the victims and their families.
Hamalengwa said Samra had been under considerable pressure and was drinking heavily as a result of marital, financial, legal and job problems and when Tatla made the insulting gestures at him, "he lost it and just went crazy."
He "may have known he was firing but couldn't control himself," the lawyer added.
Samra had "reached the point of no return, the point where he broke" because Tatla's "mocking" gestures amounted to severe provocation, Hamalengwa said.
It happened in the heat of the moment" and Samra deeply regrets it and profusely apologizes to the victims and their families, Hamalengwa told the court. Samra presented his own defence in court.
Priwes urged the jury to find Samra guilty as charged. Hamalengwa called for verdicts of manslaughter and assault causing bodily harm. The trial continues.
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Last Modified: August 11, 2007
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