Peel Police leave a press conference where they announced that the remains of Poonam LITT, who had gone missing in 2009, were discovered in Caledon, during a news conference in Brampton, April 12, 2012.J.P. MOCZULSKI
In the early days of the investigation into Poonam Litt's disappearance, Peel police said members of her husband's family were holding back the truth.
Now, a third member of the Brampton family has been charged in connection with Ms. Litt's death three years ago.
On Feb. 5, 2009, Ms. Litt was reported missing when she didn't show up at her workplace 15 minutes away from her home. Police allege she was already dead by then. And the relative who claimed to have been the last person to see her alive is now accused of second-degree murder.
Shortly after Ms. Litt's body was discovered in Caledon last month, Peel police charged her sister-in-law, Mandeep Punia. The victim's father-in-law, 63-year-old Kulwant Singh Litt, was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
On Wednesday, police charged her brother-in-law Skinder Punia, 42, with being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Ms. Litt's mother, Gurpal Dhaliwal, said in Punjabi in a telephone interview from her Brampton home that her daughter gave no indication of family discord.
"I'm just so sad," Ms. Dhaliwal said, breaking into tears. "She was happy. She never said anything was troubling her."
Ms. Dhaliwal said she hasn't seen her son-in-law or her granddaughter since her daughter's body was found.
"I just don't feel like it," she said. "I feel like if I see her, it will hurt too much and remind me of Poonam."
Police say they were able to charge Ms. Punia's husband after the other two arrested family members started opening up to police.
"The discovery of the victim's remains as well as the arrest of the other two parties has resulted in a number of interviews that include the other two accused parties and others as well," said Inspector George Koekkoek. "All of that together has led us to the allegation that [Skinder Punia]was involved as an accessory after the fact."
Ms. Litt's husband, Manjiner Litt, was vacationing in India and the time of her disappearance and Insp. Koekkoek said he "was not involved in this murder at all."
With research from Stephanie Chambers
Alexandra Posadzki