ON February 5, 2009, Poonam Litt, 27, of Brampton was reported missing after she failed to appear for work. The Peel Regional Police commenced an extensive investigation and public appeal. However the whereabouts of Litt remained a mystery until 2012 when, on February 22, the Ontario Provincial Police – Caledon Division responded to a report of found human remains on a residential property on Willoughby Road, Caledon, that were later identified by the office of the Chief Coroner – Ontario Forensic Pathology Service to be those of Litt.
On April 13, 2012, Litt’s sister-in-law Mandeep Punia, then 35, of Brampton was arrested and charged with her murder. The victim’s father-in-law, Kulwant Singh Litt, then 63, of Brampton, was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder. Mandeep’s husband, Skinder, then 42, was charged with accessory after the fact to murder, a few weeks later.
THIS week, the trial of Mandeep and Skinder Punia, got underway. Mandeep is charged with second-degree murder. The trial of Kulwant Litt will take place separately later.
Assistant Crown Veronica Puls told jurors that a forensic search of the Litt’s home after her remains were found turned up a significant amount of her blood behind the baseboards and under the carpet of the dining room.
Puls said that Kulwant Litt will be called to testify in the trial, but she was unsure what he would say. Yet she told the jurors that he is a very important witness and they should watch and listen to him very carefully.
Dentist Roopali Sharma told jurors that Litt didn’t turn up for her appointment on February 5, 2009. Litt’s in-laws told police she had left for work that morning. But Puls told jurors that a neighbour’s surveillance tape that showed Litt leaving for work the day before, did not show her leaving that day.
The Crown believes Litt was killed on February 4, 2009, when she returned home from work.
The trial continues.